


La Vie En Rose

by WritingRagdoll



Category: Bruce Banner - Fandom, Captain America, Disney - Fandom, Hulk - Fandom, Marvel, Stark - Fandom, Superhero - Fandom, The Avengers, hero - Fandom
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Romance, Superpowers, hero - Freeform, power
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-07 18:37:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 34,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14677011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingRagdoll/pseuds/WritingRagdoll
Summary: An uncontrollable, green beast trapped inside a humble doctor. The key to this control: the white eyes of a pompous, materialistic jewel thief. Oh- and also, the world is ending. Best of luck to you both and the rest of the Avengers.





	1. Chapter 1

My life was simple.  
Then again, it was simple when it was _my_ life.

Simplicity at its best considered on the simple pleasures of life. Egyptian cotton sheets, goose feather pillows, mimosas every day, and the best part all the jewels and gems that I could dream of.

Oh, all the gems and jewels I could imagine.

I thought of my precious babies and how they gleamed and sparkled in all different shades and hues of colors, all of them, different shapes and sizes.

I don't discriminate; I love them all.

This is my life. _This was my life._

I loved it, and I wouldn't change a single thing about it. I live for the lavish things in life. I believe life was made to be enjoyed and I was blessed with the proper gifts to enjoy it, which is something I don't intend on wasting.

Only a few days ago had I been completely spread out in my luxurious king bed. I looked at the yellow canary ring that shined brightly upon my index finger; thus far my favorite and most expensive finger accessory.  
It was then that I heard the elevator door open. I thought it was my morning breakfast, eggs benedict and crab cakes with a Moet Mimosa. I sat up, the slightest of smiles on my face. It soon twisted into a frown when I was greeted by two strangers standing at the entrance of my master bedroom. One was a man who wore a simple, black suit, the other was a gorgeous woman who had short red hair and wore a skintight black and crimson suit- and it was just downhill from there.

Presently, I sat in a discrete private plane to India, it wasn't as lavish as to what I was used to, but it was something. A pair of pitch black sunglasses had been practically glued to my head. I had been threatened not to remove them despite any circumstance that might arise. I looked at my newest companion with a scowl through the shades.  
Natasha Romanoff, also known as the deadly Black Widow looked back at me just as uneasily.

"Can I take the glasses off?" I asked in a bored town my voice drawling at the end.  
"No," she retorted with absolutely no amusement in her tone.  
"Couldn't you have at least made these Chanel?" I scoffed rolling my eyes. The Black Widow remained stoic, her answer obvious.

Her mood: _frustrated and annoyed._

Feeling just as frustrated I snapped the sunglasses off angrily. In that instant, she pointed a cold gun at my temple. With a sly grin, I snapped my pale eyes towards hers. Hers, however, remained tightly shut.

"I just," sighing I looked around the small space in the jet. My mind racing as I sought an escape. "I still don't understand why I have to be of service."  
"I didn't know your silly organization was this inefficient," I added.

The tension was escalating; anger was beginning to flood her mind. The edge of my lips tugged up into a smirk. "The organization is far from inefficient, not is it silly," she said sharply emphasizing on the word 'silly.'  
"The problem is that he-it, it is too strong. No one can control it. Perhaps only you can."  
"Will you look at me for chrissake? I'm not going to do anything to you. It's not like I can, considering that this hideous vest that I'm wearing will literally kill me. Not to mention how unflattering it is," I ripped open my Versace jacket to show the Black Widow the control belt bomb that had been locked around my torso. One wrong move and “Boom!” I would be split splat, just like a Pollock.

Agent Coulson, the man who got me involved in this, had managed to get this bomb on me. If I misbehaved, it would only take one click of a red button for my life to cease.  
"Chill B.W.," I said once again rolling my eyes and looking at her gun annoyed.

The Black Widow ignored her new nickname and finally opened her eyes and dared to look into mine. Her tense mood did not falter.

"See," I said smugly buttoning up my fancy jacket.

I barely got some sleep in that uncomfortable seat. I spent half of the flight either drowsing off or brushing my dark brown hair while looking vainly in a pocket mirror.

It seemed like the Black Widow didn't sleep. She was almost robotic.  
The only reason I was sure she was human was because her emotions were painfully obvious to me. It wasn't long before the bump of the plane hitting fresh ground awoke me.

It was dark outside; the sun was setting.

The Black Widow wouldn't speak to me unless spoken to, and even then she refrained from saying much. During the flight she had several files at hand, one was mine, another was the thing we were dealing with.   
I wasn't allowed to look at either.

"So where in India are we?" I asked carefully stepping around the dirt in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere. "Kolkata, West Bengal," she retorted in her monotone voice.

"Is that near the Taj Mahal?" I asked ignorantly.

Her mood: _annoyed._

She was rather irked.  
  
"Can we go visit the old Indian mines. I've heard the rubies are just divine."

She glared, "we are not on vacation."

The black widow continued barking orders as we skulked around the ghettos of Kolkata. People were dying in the streets of sickness and disease. I could see them, clear as day, elder women, children, men, even sick dogs lay with gaping mouths in hunger. Their only company seemed to be the hovering flies.  
Pests, trash, and the dead cluttered the crowded streets which stanch of feces, urine and decomposed corpses. There was so much pain in these streets, so much suffering. It was overbearing.

"I need a moment," I said holding onto my aching head.

B.W. Looked at me curiously.

"Do what you have to do, it's just... my head," I held onto my temples with both of my hands. My mind went blank for a minute. I didn't realize how much time had passed until Natasha returned and found me leaning against a wooden post clenching my teeth. I could feel that she was somewhat concerned.

"Come. It's all arranged," she said putting her emotions aside. I once again followed her in the dusk to a tiny hovel with broken walls and curtain windows. It stood alone in the distance.  
"Should I be ready?" I asked slipping my hands into my pockets. She didn't respond.I hated her silent charade."This is so pointless-" I kicked a nearby peddle away.  
"Stop!" She suddenly snapped losing her cool.

Her mood: _anger and frustration._

It seemed like I was only able to have two mood effects on the poor woman.

"Listen. Whether you like it or not you will cooperate. You have a long track record so be grateful that we didn't just throw you in barred four by four cage," she snapped. "Be quiet and do as I say. This is a delicate situation." She couldn’t emphasize it more.

Natasha then explained how she had hired a local child to bring our target to the isolated, broken down shelter where we were stood. She said that our cue was when the child escaped the room. I couldn't handle this place anymore. The mood, the insects, the horrid stench. I just wanted this to be over so that I could be back in Las Vegas, anywhere else other than Kolkata. I was also getting hungry...

It was just then that a little Indian girl ran inside of the shed and sprinted out through an open window. A dark-haired man followed after her and was left standing alone like an idiot. He stopped dead in his tracks. He knew.

His mood: annoyed.

He had been made a fool, and he knew it. He had been tricked.  
It seemed like there were no positive emotions surrounding these people.

"Should have got paid up front, Banner," Natasha stepped forward from behind the curtains. She had bothered to dress down to the colloquial attire of the area. A black shirt and a crimson red shawl.  
Her trademark colors.   
I refused to change my outfit, not caring if I stood out like a sore thumb. Like hell, I was going to remove my Dior Tribal earrings and my Versace outfit in the middle of nowhere India. Why couldn’t we be in Bengal? New Dehli? This was so frustrating…

He turned around quietly and eyed both of us cautiously. Banner was for less of a better word your average Joe.  
Dark hair, dark eyes, there wasn't anything particularly outstanding about him. He wore cheap clothes. A brand less maroon shirt and dark pants. He carried a messenger bag with him. He had thick, bushy eyebrows and rounded facial features. His skin was tan from countless of days or walking under the harsh Indian sun.

"You know, for a man who's supposed to be avoiding stress, you picked a hell of a place to settle," Natasha continued.

Wait-  
Was this our dangerous subject?

Once again I scrutinized him. My eyes were snaking up and down his figure and poise. How was this man threatening? He certainly didn’t fit the part. Did he have to avoid the stress due to heart problems?

"Avoiding stress isn't the secret," he retorted dully. I felt like I was missing something.  
"Then, what is it? Yoga?"

I was clearly out of the loop of this conversation. Not that I cared enough to inquire, I merely wanted to get out of here. I didn't even bother in making an effort to hide my scowl.

"You brought me to the edge of the city, smart. I uh... assume the whole place is surrounded?" He looked around the room anxiously and at both of us. I'll admit that I droned out for most of Banner and Natasha's conversation until I realized they actually addressed me.

"And you?" he asked.

I snapped my colored eyes to his. He blinked twice taken aback by them.

His mood: curious.

"Does it matter?" I retorted smugly keeping my eyes peeled wide open.  
If it weren't for this man- ugh...  
"Are you both here to kill me? Because that's not going to work out for everyone."  
"For who else?" I muttered to Natasha growing more and more annoyed by the second. An effect I realized I had on her.   
"Can we get out of here?" I added whining like a child.  
"No. No. Of course not. I'm here on behalf of SHIELD."  
"I'm not." I butted in shamelessly. Natasha ignored me.  
"Can we get out of here? We can talk about this on the plane, yes?" I repeated almost pleading her.  
"Where are you taking me?" He asked, his eyes narrowed.  
"We've always kept our distance from you doctor, but never lost sight. We've even helped keep some other interested parties off your scent."  
"Why?" I beat the man to the question asking with knitted eyebrows.  
"Will someone tell me what I’m doing here? That is, besides wasting my time!" I exclaimed frustrated. "This man isn't dangerous!" I said approaching him carelessly. "He's a doctor," I drawled annoyed. "He saves lives," I added matter of factly.  
Natasha began to become exasperated once again. Her glare said it all. ' _Don't you dare,'_ her eyes threatened.

Banner couldn't help but chuckle.

"I think... the other guy might disagree with you," he said dangerously his mood becoming darker. I huffed cockily.  
"Whatever, I'm not scared of anybody," I said tossing my long hair over my shoulder. It slapped the doctor in the face as I walked away. He brushed his nose and frowned at the rude gesture. Natasha proceeded to explain how the world was about to face a potential global catastrophe. She spoke about something called a Tesseract and potential power it possessed to wipe out the planet.   
This caught my interest...

That thing, whatever it was, had to be absolutely priceless. The Tesseract, I wondered just what it was… It was then that Natasha pulled a tablet from her messenger bag and displayed it for the doctor.  
My eyes slightly widened at the sight of the glowing cube like- gem.  
Was that a shaped blue diamond? I could feel my mouth greedily watering at the pure thought of-

I momentarily escaped reality and pictured myself in an even fancier penthouse, wearing, perhaps a necklace made out of the Hope Diamond? No one to bother me, no one to tie me up to explosives and boss me around... I didn't realize that my emotions were beginning to manifest until Natasha snapped the image from her tablet off and her attention was back from the doctor and me.

"Quit it," she almost growled out at me.  
"D-Did your eyes just change color?" Banner asked looking at the vanishing green hues in them.  
"No," I lied rudely, scoffing, and stepped away from both of them.  
"Her eyes just changed color," he stated the obvious, shocked. His eyes remained on mine. I didn't remove my now colorless eyes away from him. I could tell he was intrigued by my unnatural gaze.

"Nick Fury trusts you." Natasha swayed the conversation.  
"He wants you to find it. It has been taken. It emits a gamma signature that's too weak for us to trace. There's no one that knows gamma radiation like you do. If there was, that's where I'd be.” She explained.  
"Gamma Radiation? But isn't this man a medical doctor?" I asked. Once again, I was ignored.  
"So Fury isn't after the monster? He doesn't need me in a cage?" Banner inquired, his mood shifting, eyes hard.

"No one's gonna put you in a..." Natasha persuaded.  
"STOP LYING TO ME!" he suddenly snapped in a thunderous tone. Natasha quickly grabbed her gun and pointed at him. She exchanged a confused look with me since I had no reaction at the man's outburst.  
"He's not mad," I retorted feeling that the man was actually feeling sheepish.

He stood straight up like an arrow smiling. He had an odd sense of humor.

"I'm sorry. That was mean. I just wanted to see what you'd do. Why don't we don't we do this the easy way, where you don't use that, and the other guy doesn't make a mess? Okay?"  
"The other guy? You talk as if you were Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," I commented.  
"Something like that..." He said with that same smile. His eyes marked by exhaustion.  
"You won't be locked up," Natasha continued. "And I won't need to use my weapon. That's why she's here," she nodded her head towards me. I crossed my arms over my chest tapping my foot anxiously.  
"Can we go? Now?" I asked insensitively sincerely not caring that the world was in peril.

"And what are you going to do?" He asked with a charming smile towering over me.  
"Hold the Big Guy down? Rattle your jewelry to distract him with glimmer and glam?" He clearly wasn't threatened by me.

I glared at him and smugly smiled at him. For a brief moment, I allowed my white irises to flash in a bright orange hue of annoyance. He felt this emotion rapidly shift and gave a step back started by his sudden change in mood. His jaw tightened, and instead of fear, I could sense the growing curiosity in him.


	2. Chapter 2

"Don't patronize me, Banner." I scoffed marching out of the small home.  
   
I sat in the seat furthest away from both the Black Widow and Dr. Banner who maintained some conversation during the long flight. I mindlessly looked out of the window with my chin perked on my palm. Suddenly Natasha left- to make a call, I assumed.

I sighed and maintained my anti-social behavior. I pretended not to notice when someone sat in the empty seat next to mine.  
"You're Merrill St. Paul," the voice stated.  
I turned to look at the man with a blank stare on my face.  
"Yeah? What of it?" I asked dully, wishing I was elsewhere.  
"I've heard about you," Banner began. "You're a gem collector." I remained silent.  
"Dr. Banner, Bruce Banner," he stated offering his hand. I looked down at it uninterested before glancing out the window again. "Right..." He trailed off awkwardly.  
His mood: nervous.  
"Ms. Romanoff said that we were going to be spending a lot of time together. She said that you could help me. Control him."  
I figured that if I ignored him maybe, he'd go away. That wasn't the case.

"Ms. St. Paul?"  
"Merrill. Just Merrill," I said turning to him once again feeling annoyed. "I don't understand what you mean by 'controlling him.' Who are you even talking about?"  
"Well... My other self..." he said sheepishly. As if he was somewhat embarrassed about it. I starred at him for a moment, processing his words.  
"I don't get it, are you schizophrenic or something?"  
"Have you ever heard of the Big Green Guy?" He asked.  
“Like the Mighty Green Giant?” I simply shrugged in an uninterested tone. "Hulk Smash?" He quoted in an exaggerated tone. "Have you ever picked up a newspaper?" He asked somewhat shocked.  
"No," I said growing more and more bored with this conversation. "The only newspaper I pick up is called: Vogue, and no. I have never heard of you or your other you." I rolled my eyes.  
“That’s not even a newspaper.” He muttered under his breath cringing. I flashed him a death glare. "Look. I've been on a track record. It has been more than a year since..." he paused dramatically. "Never mind. Point is, I'm a little curious at how you can help-"  
I had had enough. This man was never going to shut up.  
I turned to face him directly and stared daggers at him willingly my eyes momentarily flashed with a navy blue color. He blinked twice and suddenly sank into his seat in relaxation.

I did the same.

The negative thing about forcing emotions upon others is that- I force them upon myself as well. The effects are of course not as severe.  
He relaxed back into his seat, as did I. My eyes half lidded.  
"What did you... What did you do to me?" He exhaled.  
"Just... shut up." I retorted finally closing my eyes.  
"Your eyes do change color," he observed.

Why wouldn’t he stop talking?!  
I opened them once again and turned to glare at him as they faded into orange, the color of annoyance. "You're annoying," I pointed out once again focusing on a relaxing blue mood.  
He sank even deeper into his seat.

"So what's your story?” He continued in a drowsy tone.  
I scowled at him leaving him with word in his mouth. I was done with this conversation. My silence would be his answer.  
"Radiation? Terrible experiment? Cursed?"  
Like I said, I was done. Someone should slap some silver duct tape on this man’s mouth. If Dr. Hyde were like this, I would take Mr. Jekyll any day.  
Without another word I stood up and left to another seat. Arriving I crossed my arms and leaned my head against the window longing for sleep to come.  
 

   
 _There was blood. So much blood and colors, it was almost like seeing the rainbow. The colors contrasted the dull background. I looked down at my shaking bloodstained hands. Before me the dead-_

 

"Wake up." I twitched awake at Natasha's harsh tone.  
"Are we there yet?"  
"Pit stop," she said as she walked away.  
The air vehicle had landed already and on board were two men. One I recognized to be Agent Phil Coulson, also known as the bastard that had forced me to be here. The other was a terribly handsome man in a brown leather jacket. I felt my cheeks and eyes flashing a rosy pink in embarrassment. He looked just like the guy from that superhero movie!

Coulson introduced the man as Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America. Yes. The Captain America.   
He kindly introduced and kept to himself instead of rambling like Banner. The doctor and Natasha were in the back of the aircraft working out some details. The plane took off, and Coulson sat on a high tech computer managing some data. I exchanged a look with Steve my eyes glowing. I immediately saw his pupils dilate in affection.  
"Ms. St. Paul, excuse my boldness, but will you go on a date with me?" He asked immediately taking my polished hand in his.  
I giggled obnoxiously like a childish schoolgirl.  
"Why Captain!" I batted my eyelashes dramatically.  
"St. Paul," Coulson suddenly growled out in a scolding tone.  
"You've been warned," he threatened once.  
Suddenly I felt the weight of the bomb in my chest and rolled my eyes, the color flashing back to it's neutral gray.  
"It's just some harmless fun." I droned slightly scowling.  
The captain blinked twice and held on to his head confused. He looked at me perplexed. I couldn't imagine just what was going through his head. In order to confuse him more, I winked at him.

"Stop it," Coulson warned again, not even looking at the scene. His back still turned towards us.

"I didn't even do it with the eyes this time!" I protested childishly.  
"With professionalism Ms. St. Paul," he said spinning around in the chair and stepping over to both of us.  
"There's something both of you must know," he said holding an electronic tablet in his hands.  
We both looked at him expectantly.  
"It's about Dr. Banner." He handed us the tablet.  
Steve and I sat ready to watch some kind of video. He inched away from me uncomfortable.  
"I think it's best if you see it for yourselves."

The Captain pressed play.  
The video was set at Culver University. I remember hearing about this; it was set about a year ago. The U.S. Military had even gotten involved. I couldn't believe it. There was this massive being. It appeared that he weighted tons, he was easily more substantial than an elephant, and he was green. The bullets and missiles seemed to tickle him. He swatted away soldiers as if they were flies destroying and ripping apart everything that stood in the way. Tanks, cars, buildings…  
"We're about forty minutes out from the base, sir."

One of the pilots said to Agent Coulson.  
I was speechless.

Was that thing Dr. Banner?  
"Is that..." I asked eyes wide.  
Eyes glowing a pale yellow.  
"Dr. Banner, yes. You are correct," Coulson said spinning in his chair.  
"How-How do you expect me to control that thing. Are you insane?!" I screeched.  
"If anyone can do it, it's you. We've tried everything." He said with pursued lips.  
"I am not some Guinea Pig for you to use to try to "appease" this monster! What do you think this is King Kong? This is real life!" I felt Steve's hand on my arm as he muttered a "Calm down."

"You won't be alone, there will be others-" Coulson continued.  
"This. Is bullshit," I spat angrily between gritted teeth.  
The Captain's eyes went wide. Shocked that a woman could be capable of such harsh language.  
"How did this even happen?" I exclaimed pointing at the tablet with my palm.  
"Dr. Banner attempted to replicate the serum that was used in the Captain," Coulson began.  
"Really?" The Captain asked with a surprised expression on his face.  
"A lot of people were. You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula."  
As he spoke, we saw a close-up shot of the angry monster, The Hulk, which roared with fury as he slammed a jeep apart. I felt my insides twisting with unease.  
  
 _“Are you like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?”_  
 _"Something like that..." I remembered Bruce's sheepish smile._  
  
I had to find a way out of here. If not, I was as good as dead.  
"Didn't really go his way, did it?" Steve added.

Agent Coulson began rambling and praised the Captain who apparently was his idol. I turned my head to look at the back of the plane where Bruce and Natasha were sitting. His eyes didn't meet mine, but I knew that he had heard just enough.   
  
I was brave and knew that I could easily control any human, but that thing...  
I don't even know if it had a conscience. I could feel his anxiety filling the room, and I'm sure mine wasn't helping either.  
  
I felt claustrophobic. Leaning against my knees, I took in a deep breath.  
I had to find a way out. I had to find a way out. I briefly looked at the massive bomb that was attached to my heart.

First, I had to get this thing off me.  
  
"-With everything that's happening, the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old-fashioned," Coulson said sentimentally to the Captain regarding who knows what. I had other more important priorities.   
  
It wasn't long before we landed and it was now daylight. The plane we were in was called the Quinjet, and it landed down on a massive battleship, which I learned is called the helicarrier. It had two runways; one with direct access to the hangar at the rear is aligned along the spine of the vessel. Agent Coulson and Steve walk down the ramp still talking. I trailed behind them as Natasha and Bruce passed me. Coulson left, and Natasha proceeded to introduce herself to the Captain formally. As we walked, Dr. Banner got distracted and sidestepped to stand near a plane. People rapidly walked around and in front of him as if he wasn't there. I stared in disbelief. Steve stretched out a hand to formally make his acquaintance.  
  
"Oh, yeah. Hi." Bruce said awkwardly.  
  
It was then that I noticed the grey on his hair. He was much too young to have gray hair like that; I assumed it was due to the bearing stress he had to deal with that thing living inside him…  
"Word is you can find the cube," the Captain began.  
  
"Is that the only word on me?" His eyes momentarily flickered to me. I was standing behind them all with my arms crossed over my chest as I shrunk in the shadow of a plane.  
"Only word I care about," Steve said with sentiment. The doctor was touched.  
"Must be strange for you, all of this."   
"Well, this is actually kind of familiar-" the Captain was interrupted by Natasha.  
"Gentlemen, St. Paul, you may wanna step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breathe."  
  
Suddenly the helicarrier started shaking violently. The ground trembled beneath my Gucci shoes. No way in hell was I going to be kept underwater with them.

"Is this is a submarine?"   
"Really? They wanted me in a submerged pressurized metal container?" Banner mused humorlessly.

"As long as St. Paul is with you, there won't be any need of that."  
I saw the Captain look at me oddly; I assume that he, like the others, was unaware of the true power I possessed. It was then that Steve and Bruce approached the ledge of the helicarrier and looked at the turbines at sea. I took advantage of the opportunity and approached The Black Widow.  
"Natasha," I began.  
"Black Widow," she corrected with a sharp glare.  
"Listen-" I hissed ignoring her correction.  
"I don't know what you and Agent Coulson have in mind. I can't control him. He's going to kill us all and wreck the entire helicarrier." I protested with fearful eyes. "It's hopeless."

She kept her eyes shut knowing better.

"So you're telling me that you can steal the Pope's gems, live in Buckingham Palace for a year, get a collection of dresses designed after you by Milan's elite, and convince an entire nation that you are a God- but you can't control one man?"  
I sucked in a breath as she mentioned part of my track record. I hated to acknowledge it, but it was true. I was pretty outstanding, but I could not control that thing. My eyes darted towards the two men that were standing on the edge of the carrier ship.

"But it is _not_  a man," I wanted to protest.  
  
Four large lift fans mounted on the sides of the ship began to lift the helicarrier into the air. Steve watched in awe. Marveled by the technology of this century. Bruce became awry. He turned to look at us. This thing wasn't a submarine it was an aerial carrier. Then it hit me, the name- helicarrier. Of course.  
  
"Oh, no. This is much worse," he said breathlessly.


	3. Chapter 3

We walked through the parting doors as we entered the bridge of the ship. A blur of activity and energy met my senses. As dozens of agents sat in front of their view screen wholly focused.

I was met with many moods, but no one was in panic.

Everyone wholly devoted to his or her individual task. The Black Widow lead the way, her red hair bobbing as she strutted the halls of the helicarrier. Ever so often she would turn and look back at Steve and Bruce who were gawking. Both of them were looking up and down around every corner of the room. I kept my eyes focused front on her.She led us to a long table. Steve stood in the front of it looking at everyone work. Bruce behind it observing everything that was happening. I opted for shrinking into a corner of the room, which was something that went against my attention-seeking nature.

A black, tall man suddenly approached us. He had an air of order that just seemed to follow him as well as the respect his team members had for him. He wore an eye patch on one of his eyes. His glare steady.  
His mood: focused.

"Lady and gentlemen," he greeted curtly.

Steve handed him a $10, I assumed it must've been an inside bet or something amongst those lines. The man walked towards Banner and extended his hand. Bruce eyed it and reluctantly shook it.

"Nick Fury. Thank you so much for coming doctor," he briefly paused and eyed me from where he stood. "Ms. St. Paul," he said. I simply narrowed my eyes. Hands crossed over my dynamite chest.  
 "Thanks for asking nicely. So, uh... how long am I staying?" Bruce asked.

Because I was stuck here with whatever was inside of Bruce I put together that I would be free to go when he was.

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear," Nick Fury explained.

I made a mental note.

Find Tesseract. From what Romanoff had been saying it sounded like it was an artifact, but it looked like some kind of gem. Regardless I'm sure it was precious. From the conversation they had, I picked up that they had been looking for it everywhere and hadn't had much luck in finding it. Even one of their Agents had been compromised. I looked at Natasha staring intently at the compromised agent’s picture.   
She was getting emotional over it. Was he a dear comrade perhaps?  
"-Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places," Banner explained as he removed his brown jacket and rolled up his purple sleeves ready to work.

What the hell did he just say? Did it matter? I had to find that stupid cube. In my head the only equation that matter was the following:

Tesseract + Banner = Free St. Paul.

And that was all.  
"I could find it," I suddenly piped. An idea light bulb going off in my head.

All eyes turned to look at me intensely. I remained stoic.

"You?" The Captain retorted confused.  
"That missing Agent... Bring me something of his, and I'll see what I can do," I explained in simple terms.

"Why would you out of all people help us?" Natasha turned to glare at me.  
I scoffed. "Help you? I'm not helping you. The faster we find that "Tessa-rackt" or whatever it is, the faster I get to get out of here and continue on with my fabulous life," I said before tossing my long hair over my shoulder pompously.

Once again.  
Her mood: irritated.   
Then again, what was new? Natasha really didn't like me.

"Somewhere for me to work?" Bruce said slowly after a moment.

Nick Fury remained pensive. If anyone in the room knew what I was capable of, it was him. He licked his lips before speaking.

"Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please." Natasha nodded and began walking off leading Bruce down the hall. "And also-"

She stopped.

"Find Ms. St. Paul something of Agent Barton’s."  
I nodded at him thankfully and followed the rest of the group to the lab.

"You're gonna love it, Doc. We got all the toys," she said breaking the awkward silence that followed the three of us.

The lab, just like the rest of the spaceship, was huge. It was filled with pristine technology; everything was clean and massive in the laboratory. I looked around suspiciously wondering if there were any cameras nearby. Bruce looked like a child on Christmas Eve. His excitement was almost contagious.

"Here," Natasha said suddenly pulling something out of her back pocket.  
She placed it in my hand. It was a sharp arrowhead. I was correct in my assumption that this agent had a close relationship with Romanoff. The corner of my lips twitched up into a smirk, eyes flashing gold.

"Don't get cocky now," they returned to their standard color.  
"How special is this arrowhead to Agent Barton?" I asked.  
"Somewhat," was all she responded.

I grumbled ignoring her lack of cooperation. If she carried it with her, it must’ve meant something to him. Taking a deep breath, I fingered the arrowhead in my hand and wrapped my fingers around it tightly.  
Exhaling, I closed my eyes.

XXXXXX

Merrill collapsed.

"Dr. Banner!" Natasha exclaimed as she reached for the other woman unable to catch her before she hit the ground. Bruce turned and saw the redhead hovering over the other woman who was laying on the cold floor. He instantly dropped what he was doing and rushed over to where the two women were.

"What happened?" He asked immediately kneeling. He touched the woman's face. It was warm. Another hand in the vein of her arm. Her pulse was steady.

"I handed her the arrowhead and she just collapsed. I'll get Fury!" Natasha quickly jogged out of the room.

Bruce was left alone with the unconscious woman. He reached for his jacket and bundled it up placing it under her head, which he analyzed for any severe wounds. Thankfully there were none. He then opened her eyes, with the flashlight on his phone he moved the light around.  
However, her pupils remained still neither growing or shrinking. Her eyes were in their neutral gray, white color. It appeared as if she was almost in some sort of trance.

He didn't know anything about her other than her name. From what he had picked up she was a vain, materialistic, pompous woman. Not the type of person he would usually associate himself with. Especially the kind of woman, then again, he was only a lab rat.  
He analyzed her face and couldn't help but wonder just how the hell she was supposed to keep The Big Guy in order.

XXXXX

I opened my eyes. It appeared that I was in an underground laboratory. Just like SHIELD's, everything was brand new and extremely high tech. The lab was filled with working scientist all with bright, glowing, blue eyes.  
Their movements were calculated, no emotion in them what so ever.  
Were they under some kind of mind control?

I looked down at the hands of the body, which I had currently possessed. They belonged to a man. I realized that I was holding a high tech tablet. The tablet read information on IRIDIUM.

Whatever that was.

Next to it was information on Dr. Heinrich Schafer.

"Where did you find all these people?"

It took me a moment to realize that an elderly scientist was actually addressing the body I was hosting. He had peppered grey hair a pink complexion and wore an aqua plaid shirt. His eyes held the same unfamiliar glow that the rest of the crew had. He was standing inside of a protected area working on a machine.

"Does it matter?" I retorted the first answer that came to mind. I looked back at the tablet and attempted to memorize most of the information that I could.  
"Do you have what I need?" The scientist asked again.

Unsure of how to proceed I turned the tablet towards him. Did he mean this?

"Iridium. It's found in meteorites; it forms anti-protons. It's very hard to get hold of," he explained as he toyed with some construction materials and a red screwdriver. Nearby, I noticed that several scientists were speaking German.

I closed the perimeter of where I could be. German-speaking people. Central Europe, perhaps Austria or Germany. Suddenly I felt a looming presence enter the room. I froze, this being had emotions. There was the intense burning of anger, fear and pride all packed up into one human body.

"Hey!" The scientist greeted as he stepped out of the safety zone to greet the individual approaching us. "The Tesseract is showing me so much. It's more than just knowledge. It's... truth."

‘It’s my freedom!’

My eyes quickly scanned the room. Where was the Tesseract? What was it?

I didn't realize that I had stopped breathing as my eyes scanned the room for the item, that was until a cold voice addressed Agent Barton, A.K.A. me. "I know. What did it show you, Agent Barton?"

I slowly turned to face this man and was surprised when I encountered another perfect being. Very much like Steve, this man had a flawless skin complexion. He was fair, and a pair of piercing gray-green eyes and his dark hair was long, kept, and completely slicked back. He wore peculiar robes that were elegant, yet looked to be from an entirely different time. Nothing I could recognize from any fashion catalog. Not in Vogue at least.  
There was something odd about him that just made him memorable. His glare made me shiver. I felt as if he could see right through me.

"My next target," I responded in the most robotic voice that I could.  
"Must. Get. The. Iridium." I said in a paced voice in an attempt to hush my hammering heart.

"Tell me what you need," this man said eyeing me cautiously. From where I stood I could see a bow. If Natasha gave me an arrowhead, it was safe to assume the bow was Agent Barton's. I had to stop assuming things and just learn how to do. In order to avoid eye contact, I rushed towards the bow and lifted it. "A distraction," I said.

It sounded as if I was praying for one instead.   
And with that, I was out.

xxxXX

"How long will she be like this?" It sounded like Nick Fury.  
"It hasn't been that long, just a couple of minutes," that was Natasha.  
"All of her vital signs indicate she's stable," and Dr. Banner.  
"Should we do something?" Of course, the Captain.

As if waking up from a bad dream I groggily opened my eyes, blinking back to reality. I opened my hand and dropped the arrowhead that Natasha had handed me. It made a sound as it hit the metallic floor. I rubbed the back of my head due to the impact of falling.

"St. Paul," Fury acknowledged I had awakened. I instantly felt a pair of hands on my shoulder's holding me steady. I had been moved to the metal table slab.

"He's somewhere in Central Europe." I began. "There were speaking German. I'm assuming Germany or Austria. The accent sounded more German," I reached for my temple in an attempt to soothe my throbbing headache. I attempted to summon every single recollection of everything that I had seen and felt.

"They are looking for something- Iradiume?"  
"Iridium?!" Bruce said a bit louder next to me. I merely nodded my head at his correction.

"Barton was there. It seems as if everyone is in some kind of trace. There were no emotions in that laboratory... And the Tesserack was there!"  
"Tesseract," Everyone in the room including the agents that had followed Nick Fury all corrected unanimously. "Yeah, that."  
"Did you see it?" Fury asked. "No, but there was this scientist talking about it. It seemed like he was working with it..."

"How do you know this?" Natasha pressed with mistrusting eyes.  
"Because I saw it," I said clumsily standing up on my wobbling knees.  
"Did you see anything else?" Steve asked in a more gentle tone.

"Yes." I suddenly remembered the cold eyes of the dark-haired man in the room. "This man, but it was like he wasn't human." I paused for a moment.  
"He asked Barton some questions about his mission. Dark hair, green eyes, wore these odd robes. But there was something odd about him..." I felt an uneasy chill run down my spine. It was then that I felt a heavy jacket on my shoulders. I looked at the cheap, brown fabric. It was Banner's; without thanking him, I merely held it tighter to my body.

"Loki," Phil Coulson suddenly breathed.

One of the agents suddenly began to type information into his tablet quickly. His name tag read Jasper Sitwell. Fury turned to look at him curiously.

"I can't believe it. We got a hit!" he exclaimed as he continued typing information.

"Sixty-seven percent match," he stated. "Seventy-nine percent crossmatch. We got him," he corrected himself.

"Location?" Coulson asked calmly.  
Fury simply kept his hands behind his back pleased.

"Stuttgart, Germany. 28, Konigstrasse. He's not exactly hiding," he turned the tablet to show us all an image of this man, Loki.  
There it was, that piercing glare, pale skin, and dark hair it was him. It appeared as if he was at some gala. I loved what he was wearing. You can never go wrong with Valentino.

"Captain, Agent Romanoff, you're up." Fury said sounding pleased.

Both nodded and immediately left the room.

"Banner, you know what to do," he added shortly. With a nod, Bruce retreated to do some research. Fury began walking away. "Oh, St. Paul?" He stopped in his tracks, dramatically turning around.  
"Nice job," he said before pressing a button.

There was a hissing sound, and the bomb that had been tied up against my chest beeped as it was being deactivated. It took me a second to snap it off and toss it to the ground. I took in a large breath feeling my chest expand.

Well, one less thing to worry about.  
Now to figure out, how to get out of here...


	4. Chapter 4

 Finally, I was free of the bounds of that awful, body-deforming bomb. I breathed and felt my abdomen inflate appropriately without the fear of setting the device off.  
   
"Thank God," I said to myself.   
   
It was now just Bruce and I, alone in the lab. I debated whether I should retreat- then again, I didn't know to where. I don't think I would be allowed to freely roam the halls since I was considered to be dangerous.  
"Do you want your jacket?" I asked as I slightly removed it.  
Bruce snapped his eyes away from some papers he was looking over as he turned his attention towards me.  
"No, you keep it. Suits you better," he answered politely in a soft tone. There was a small smile playing on his face.  
   
I returned the sympathy and looked down at the floor avoiding his eyes. He was quiet for a moment before awkwardly adding, "Although, I'm sure it's not as nice as anything you're used to." He shrugged.

"You're right, it isn't," I said keeping the jacket on, turning to face him.  
"It wouldn't kill you to invest in something a little nicer. A Tom Ford and some nice Crocket & Jones would suit you well," I said as I eyed his body and the _rags_ he wore.  
   
"What?" he shook his head confused. I didn't realize that it was like gibberish when I spoke about fashion to the scientist.   
"What's the point? They wouldn't fit The Big Guy. He'd just tear them to shreds."  
"Maybe-" I said snaking around the table so that I was opposite of him.   
"Just maybe- he might like them and say to himself, 'This is a Tom Ford suit, like the one James Bond, wears in his films. I'd be a  _sin_ to even dare pull a thread from this!'" I laughed.  
He returned the comment with a weak smile.  
"That bad is it?" I commented more passively when I realized his seriousness.   
"You have no idea," he said darkly, without a smile.  
   
I was unsure of what to say.  
  
His mood: _sad._  
  
"Hey!" An idea suddenly popped into my head. "Look at me!" I said brightly.   
"Merrill-" He looked up and immediately became dazed.  
He looked down, now with a smile tugging at the edges of his face. He shook his head and returned to me.  
"Your eyes do look prettiest when they are blue," he said once again with a grin on his face.  
"What?" I asked perplexed.  
"I've been piecing it together. Orange is annoyance, yellow is fear, and blue comfort or happiness, white is neutral. Am I right?"  
   
I gaped at him stunned.  
"Your eyes?" he pressed.  
"Dark Blue is relaxation and Indigo is joy, or what you're seeing now," I explained.  
"So- how does it work?" He asked utterly zeroing his attention on me. 

I hated explaining myself. How I worked, part of me prayed that someone would walk in to interrupt. 

"Simple. Eyes are the windows to the soul aren't they?" I responded with my lips stretched into a tight line, the hues in my eyes dulling.  
"Where are you going?" Bruce called out as I uncomfortably left the room. His jacket still hung around my shoulders.  
   
XXXXXX  
   
 _'Why was she like that?_ ' He thought to himself.   
   
He found it ironic that a person who deals with emotions every second of the day would keep to themselves so much. Almost like a nut. Bottling every single feeling and emotion up.  
   
Every single time he inquired about a personal matter or question she instantly shut down. The emotional walls she had built to lock herself in were similar to his, except Bruce preferred to isolate himself from the world. Merrill, on the other hand, craved the attention and enjoyed being surrounded by it; she just wouldn't allow herself to become emotionally dependent or vulnerable with anyone.   
   
He could already begin to feel the joy he had been hypnotized with begin to slowly fade.  
   
XXXXX  
   
Meanwhile, I walked the long halls of the maze-like airship. I didn’t mind this ambiance so much. Everyone was focused and on task. I almost felt as if I could take the world just being in the presence of all of these geniuses.  As I walked, I calculated the details that I would have to administer if I wanted to escape and vanish from SHIELD successfully. As far as I knew, they were using face recognition technology and had eyes in every single corner of the Earth. If there was a camera or a cellular, there were SHIELD’s eyes.  
   
I didn't want to end up in the middle of freagin' nowhere in order to successfully escape.  
First thing first, I would have to disguise myself. My face to be more exact. I looked at my reflection in one of the dark windows of the ship. 

 _Would I have to go under the knife?_  
   
Eventually, I lost track of time and indulged myself when I found the cafeteria. After eating the shitty cafeteria food, I attempted to find my way back to the lab. I heard the sound of marching.  
Halting I stopped in the helicarrier's hallway and saw dozens of SHIELD officers escorting that same, strange, dark-haired man I had seen.   
What was his name? He wore a particularly mischievous smile as they escorted him through the halls. It was almost like the one of an imp demon that has just gotten away with a vile plan.  
Something wasn't right. He didn't have the emotions that someone would ordinarily have if they had been imprisoned in a maximum-security slammer. His eyes met mine, and his malicious smirk grew even wider. I felt something in him calling me. 

I followed.  
   
On the way, I passed the lab's windows and saw Bruce clutching his head uncomfortably. I walked in with a concern expression, and he removed his glasses.

 _'Holy fuck, he is about to turn!'_ I thought alarmed.  
"I-It's just a headache," he said raising up his hand. 

Regardless, when he looked up, I flashed him in navy blue. The ambiance in the room momentarily changed, he once again felt relaxed.

Without a second word, I left the room again.  
   
"You have to stop doing that!" I heard Dr. Banner call after me.   
I walked even faster.  
   
I was beginning to feel the exhaustion of the severe sleep in the plane the other day. I wasn't used to this absence of rest. On a good day, I'd be in bed by 10:00 PM.  
   
I maneuvered my way through the maze until I finally stumbled upon the detention section of the Helicarrier. I felt someone was coming and swiftly hid behind a hallway wall. I heard the electric door open, and as soon as they passed, I snuck past successfully making it inside of the forbidden section. Once inside I looked over my shoulder to ensure that no one was following me.  
Inside I saw that Nick Fury was interrogating, what was his name again? Lucky? 

I observed the green-eyed man inside of a massive like glass jail. He merely stood in it, broadly grinning as Fury roasted him.  
He felt at ease. It was almost like if he was enjoying this.   
Fury was tense. He was almost radiating stress.  
   
Suddenly, his lime green eyes made eye contact with my odd violet ones. His grin suddenly began stretching. I felt my breathing stop.  
   
 _The image of my dead father suddenly filled my mind._  
   
I cringed at it and exhaled a loud gasp. Turning on my heels, I stumbled into none other than the Black Widow. And she did not look pleased.  
   
XXXXX  
   
"What did you think you were doing? Spying?" Natasha currently held me in a headlock as she escorted me away from the Helicarrier detention section where Loki was being kept. Nick Fury was presently interrogating him.  
   
"Did you think we wouldn't see you?" She said as she tossed me inside of the main meeting room where the table was.  
"I wasn't spying!" I raged. "I felt something. He was calling me!" I glared at her with crimson blood eyes.  
The Avenger's had just been having a serious conversation about what Loki's plans were. I rudely interrupted. Apparently, he had plans for world domination, how ambitious of him.  
Two new men had joined the room as well as Phil Coulson.   
One, sadly, I was acquainted with, the other, I wasn't, but just like the dark-haired man he carried that strange air of godliness with him. He was a tall blonde, with a full beard and square jaw. It seemed as if the gods themselves had molded him. 

"Nat, everyone chill," Tony Stark suddenly said waving his hand.  
"If it isn't Merrill St. Paul," he announced clapping his hands sarcastically.   
Tony looked just as he had many years ago. He still had his tired brown eyes; dark hair, detailed beard and of course he always carried that air of arrogance with him.  
   
"Tony Stark," I retorted with a red glare. He looked up avoiding my eyes. My hair tossed and tangled over my head.  
   
"It really isn't her fault, you know?" Tony began to explain.  
   
Everyone looked around confused. Even Phil didn't know what to say.  
"What? Don't tell me you haven't told them?" Tony turned to Coulson with a mockingly surprised expression. I rolled my eyes. He really hadn’t changed one bit. He was still the same sarcastic asshole he had always been.

"Mood Ring over here," he signaled to me sarcastically. "Is practically harmless. The trick is in the eyes, almost like a Medusa or a Basilisk. Look into them; she'll make you feel things you don't want. Sometimes they are nice; sometimes they are not. It's good for parties keeps a good ambiance." 

I interrupted him with an angry growl.  
   
I couldn't help, but notice the confused expression of the blonde man in the room. Natasha and Steve exchanged looks. Banner looked oddly intrigued.  
"Hello? People!" Tony exclaimed ridiculously.   
"She's an Empath. Therefore she can enhance your Empathetic Perception and Manipulate Emotions."   
"Meaning..." the Captain, drawled out slowly.   
"She has the power to fully interpret, replicate the emotions, moods, and temperaments of others. Her other ability is Sensory Scryving or, Captain this is for you, the power to perceive through other beings' senses. Which is how she managed to find our friend Loki and locate Agent Barton," Tony finished explaining with a mocking bow. "There really isn't much to wonder about. It's simple."  
   
"That doesn't explain why she was lurking around the detention center," Natasha said glaring at me.   
   
Steve was too busy reminiscing why he felt so odd when he first met me.   
   
"My brother," the Nordic-looking man finally spoke. "Did he do anything to you?" He asked concerned.   
   
Were they brothers? They looked nothing alike!  
"Not that she knows- The thing about Empaths, is that they may be easily influenced and taken over by emotions. Which is something your brother might've already done on her, and none of us have even realized."  
   
"When did you become such an expert in Empaths Stark?" I spat out as I regained my composure and sat up on the floor. "Last night," he retorted in a smartass tone.

My head was pounding. I felt as if my brain was hammering my insides.  
"Your brother is in pain," I coughed out to the man. "I feel a lot of fear and anger in him..." I finally managed to stand up. I was no longer wearing Banners jacket and straightened merely out my blouse. Who knows were my Versace suit was.  
"I want to know why Loki let us take him, and why he's getting in St. Paul's head. He's not leading an army from here." The Captain interjected.   
   
"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him," Banner mussed with wide eyes.   
"Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother," The Nord spoke.  
Loki of Asgard? His brother? It sounded so familiar...   
He must be Thor then? Loki's brother in Ancient Nordic tales, but wait- they were gods did that mean?”  
"He killed eighty people in two days," Natasha butted.    
"He's adopted."  
The conversation continued flowing about the Tesseract and everything that had to be done in order to stop Loki from taking over. There were other mentions about scientific terms that I could not possibly interpret. Tony walked around the room arrogantly as he charade about technology and god knows what. It was then that he paused in front of Dr. Banner. They shook hands a glimmer in their eyes shone as they showed the mutual respect for each other as scientist. "It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner," Tony began.    
"You're work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."  
Bruce looked down embarrassed.   
"Thanks," was all that he could muster.   
Then Nick Fury walked into the room. One foot in front of the other as his presence dictated authority.   
  
"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him," he wasted no time. His eyes then fell on me, and he approached me quickly. "And since Dr. Banner is the only reason why you are here," he said quickly. I hadn't even noticed that he had snapped a handcuff to my hand and one to Bruce's. "It's best you stick close to him."  
I lifted my arm and wiggled the long metal chain that was attached to my arm. 

Dammit, it all. 

And just when I had gotten that stupid bomb jacket off now, I get stuck with this?! Banner was even worse than the bomb. If I pissed him off, he would be the one exploding into- into- whatever that thing was.

"What is the meaning of this?!" I exclaimed.   
Bruce had an expression that was composed of annoyance and disbelief on his face.  
"Best to keep the Big Guy in check and keep St. Paul from getting near Loki, or the other way around."  
"You do realize that if he turns, I will be the first to die. Yes?" I gawked in incredulity.  
"Then make sure he doesn't turn. _Yes_?" Fury replied in a mocking tone.  
I tugged on the metal chain again to ensure that it was real. There was no fucking way this was actually happening. I looked at Bruce with skepticism. He was curiously tugging on the chain as well. He looked at me, and the faintest of smiles grew on his face.

I cringed. 

Oh, just kill me already.


	5. Chapter 5

I was sitting in a steel table in Banner's lab. My head was propped on my palm, and my other arm crossed as I sat there sleepily. My head bobbing to the side every once in a while. I would've preferred to be in my own bed sleeping but couldn't due to the fact that I was cuffed to a chain tied to Dr. Bruce Banner.

_Did these people not sleep?_

God knows how long I had been in this place. Two days ago I was living the life, yesterday I was put in a plane to India and right now- I was passing out from exhaustion in a top-security laboratory listening to two of the world's brightest scientist discussing Gamma Ray radiation.

_"I want you to feel what I feel."_

A sudden memory suddenly seized me in my weakness.

 _"Why can't you understand that I worry about you? You'll never understand until you have kids of your own,"_ my father explained. I flinched at his words and held onto my arms, subconsciously shrinking.

That _was not_ care.

My father would often make me sit on his lap, and then he would hold me in place really, really tight. He would scream at me if I complained when it hurt. This wasn't what I had seen in all of _those pictures._

_"There's someone here," He said buckling up his pants and locking the door behind him as he left. I sat in a chair in the Photography Reveal Room. The lights were dark, everything illuminated with a crimson hue. I turned and looked at the developing pictures-_

_I tossed and stirred._

_I saw the faces of the developing pictures._

_Perfect families, smiling children, crying babies, a haunted house ride. That was the life I wanted._

_'That was the life I deserved.' I thought angrily through gritted teeth.It wasn't long before my father returned. At only ten years old, I had to do something about my life. I was going to fight back._

I suddenly hit my face on the table. My arm stretched from under my proper chin. A loud slam resounded the lab. Tony busted out laughing loudly. Bruce flashed me an apologetic expression, since it was his fault he pulled my arm.

"What the fuck?!" I spat out furiously my eyes glowing a dark red hue.  
"Woah- woke up on the wrong side of the bed?" Tony teased. “I mean- table?”

He mocked as he shielded his eyes from my blaring hot red ones.

"Sorry, I'm-I didn't mean to-" Bruce stammered as he raised one of his hands from the scepter he was currently running some test on.

"No, don't apologize, might tease the green out of you," Tony said holding up his hand.  
"Sod off, I just want to sleep," I said jumping to my feet.  
"I'm going to sleep!" I announced stomping my foot.

I was expecting Banner to follow, but instead, the chain was jerked back when it didn't go any further.

"Fine. _We_ are going to sleep!" I announced.

Tony was about to open his mouth when I pointed a long finger at him instantly shutting him off. Stark only wore a smirk on his handsome face. I gritted my teeth, his smug expression reminded me of the times when Stark and I lived together.

"I feel like I'm missing something..." Dr. Banner said looking between the growing tension between Stark and I. His eyes flickering between us.  
"Really? What do you think it is?" Tony said bringing a hand to his lips in a sarcastic pondering matter. "Maybe it's the tension of betrayal that just the air? Or maybe it just is Frooty Loop's charming personality?"  
"Please," I pleaded in a sincere tone. "I just, I just want to get some rest. I feel like I haven't slept in a week."

"You know when you look at her, and you see her smiling with her bright, happy, blue eyes?" Tony began interrupting me.  
"That is when she's most dangerous because from there it is just downhill..."

I looked at him in disbelief.

"But the pink, that's when it's game over." He licked his lips.

Bruce's eyes narrowed in concern.

"The ass of an eighteen-year-old stripper also helps." I flinched at Stark's rough words.

Feeling triggered at a memory from the past.

"He's salty cause I manipulated him," I droned explaining tiredly and as casually as I could. I didn’t have the energy to make a scene and please Stark by joining in his games.  
I couldn't even muster enough energy to smack him in the face for insulting me.

"You used me. Took me, chewed me and spat me back out, again and again until you found another pawn and another. Because that's what you do." Tony accused.

"Oh, Tony..." I drawled out in a bored tone, merely shrugging, eyes dulling to a shade of black.  
"We had some good times in Malibu, now quit your yapping," I said quickly turning away dragging the chain along with me. I could feel my eyes beginning to water.

I wouldn't allow them to see the weighting tears on my dark irises. I didn't even realize that I had pulled Bruce away from the lab. He followed. I began walking but ending up rushing the hallways until I reached a corner and hid behind it.  
"Merrill," he began with no choice but to chase after me. "What-what are you doing?"

I was possessed by another faint memory as I remembered some of the history between Stark and I. Why were all of these memories suddenly possessing me? What was wrong with me?

I had puppeteered him for years. The thing about the eyes is that... It really is all fun and games until "the spell is broken."  
In all his rights Tony felt cheated and used after all the years that we were together. Not that I blame him, I'd be too. Since then- Well... I try my best not to get attached to people...

"Nothing!" I growled out maliciously. "I need sleep!" I announced tense.  
"Do you want to talk about it?" He said in a surprisingly calm voice.  
"No." I snapped before shutting down my emotions.

Bruce looked taken back by my dark eyes. I began walking, but the chain that held us together halted tugging me back. I slightly cocked my head to glare at the scientist. He had a tense expression on his face.

"I still have to work," he said standing his ground. Our eyes met.  
I kept eye contact. My eyes were bottomless tunnels of pitch darkness. He didn't falter. I saw the seriousness in his eyes, which meant he wasn't backing down and I wasn't going back to the lab with Stark in there.  
  
_How dare he!_  
  
If he wasn't managed carefully, it could prove to be disastrous. Not only for me but for the entire crew in the air carrier.

In a blink of an eye, it was game over.

I suddenly saw life in pink, so did he.

I braced myself. He held a lost look in his eyes as he wasted no time stepping towards me. His hands reached for my arms as he held me in place. His lips crashing into mine. I held him close my fingers tangling into his curly hair. This wasn't new to me. Every single human I had ever _entranced,_ for less of a better word, went through this lustful phase. (Tony Stark, included.)

It would only take a couple of moments so that I could get over the effect.

His lips were softer than what I had imagined and he wasn't a terrible kisser.

One of his hands wrapped tightly around my waist. The other held my head in place. My eyes opened and I saw how focused he was. It was then that I realized this had been a terrible idea.  
Bruce aggressively pushed against the corridor's wall. The shove took my breath away, and I gasped as our foreheads bumped into each other. In his eyes, I saw a darkness begin unfold.

This was not Bruce anymore. It was beginning to happen.

I held my breath. His hand snaked further unit lit was rubbing the flesh of my skin. I looked at him scared shitless out of my mind, my heart jumping to my throat. I kept a steady eye contact with bright yellow eyes. I did my best not to allow them to glow and enable the emotion to be contagious.  
His eyes had a sharp and with that hindering darkness to them. That unnatural tint of green that possessed them was beginning to take over.

 _'He's going to turn, He's going to turn, He's going to turn...'_ I nervously eyed the chain that linked us together. _What had I done?!_

I could hear my heartbeat drumming in my ears. I had never tried this before.It I failed, we were all fucked. One of my hands clenched into a fist. The other held onto Bruce's shoulder tightly. I took in a deep breath and shut my eyes tightly.  
  


* * *

  
  
Just like that. In the blink of an eye. I could see again. I saw the bright lights of the modern hallway. Did it work? My eyes scanned the room and I couldn't believe that I saw. My body on the floor. A collapsed expression on my features. I was in someone else's body. Right. Bruce's body. Confused and unsure what to do I simply stared at the body on the floor. I had never realized how odd it was. We never actually do see ourselves in real life. The only impression that we have is through photographs, videos or mirror reflections.  
  
_'Is that what I really look like?'_ I thought.  
  
Suddenly I was overtaken by a pulsating headache. My bones ached this hurt, it throbbed and consumed me. My teeth clenched as I double over in pain and gripped my temples. I shut my eyes tightly.Again.It had happened. The next time I opened them, instead of looking back at my own passed out expression or at the dull hallway where I had last passed out-  
  


* * *

  
I looked around and appeared to be in a minimalistic pale white room. I glanced around curiously but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Looking down at my person I realized I was in my original body again. What a relief.

_White furniture, a white table, chairs…_

There weren't any windows in the austere room, only one single door. I approached it hesitantly, my footsteps echoing the clean room.

Just where the hell was I?  
  
Without a question, I approached the door across the pristine room and opened it. Inside was a highly organized laboratory. High technology equipment supported the metal lab and in the very back was yet another door. This one was ajar. There was a man pushing it shut, keeping it in place. Behind the door was an ominous light green glowing in the open sides.

"You!" the man holding the door shut tight growled.

It was Bruce, and he was furious.  
I stood back, gaping with my eyes wide. His brows were furrowed together, teeth grinding as he barked at me.

"What did you do to him?!" He roared in a harsh tone.  
"I-I, I didn't do anything!" I stuttered frozen in the spot.  
"I can't control him, and I can't hold him back-" His feet slid against the concrete floor as he mustered all of his strength to keep that door shut.

The door violently hit Bruce's back repeatedly hitting him in the back of the head. The violent roars of a creature could be heard resounding through the thick, wooden door. After much hesitation, I ran towards the door and mustered up all of my strength to help him shut it.  
The boisterous roaring continued, and the banging became stronger. Sweat built on Banner's temple.

"Banner calm down! Your temper isn't helping!" I turned to face him and attempted to calm him down. He only stared at me with that same angry expression.  
"Save your breath. Your circus tricks won't work in here."I was shell-shocked. My eyes?  
That's when it hit me. I was in a manifestation of Bruce's subconscious. Not in the physical world, meaning my physical abilities would not work in here.

"We have to work together!" I said.  
He looked at me with skepticism in his eyes an irked expression scrunched his face.

"One," I began. "Two... Three!" Together we both pushed the large wooden door at the same time and successfully managed to seal it shut.

I took in a deep breath and pressed my exhausted forehead against the wood. It took me a moment to regain my composure, and when I opened my eyes, Bruce was leaning against the door appearing to be just as drained. His expression was rigid, and he was leering at me unkindly.

"This is all your fault!" He pointed angrily.

"Banner- calm-" he interrupted me. "Don't you tell me to calm down!" he said sharply still pointing his finger at me. I reached for his hand- he jerked it back and angrily stomped away into the lab. In the lab, he outreached for glasses, test tubes and other equipment and tossed it across the room. The shards flew all over, crashing and breaking. Bruce screamed and from behind me, I could feel the door begin to thumb behind me.  
  
"Bruce, please! Calm down!" I tried.  
  
He didn't seem to stop, his rage consuming him. I ran towards him and jumped wrapping my arms around his body tightly. His arms struggled under my constricting grip.   
  
"Stop!" I managed with a strained voice.   
  
He resisted. Eventually, my weight became too much to bear and he collapsed to his knees.  
"Stop," I said one last time sighing. My ear pressed against his back. I could feel his hammering heart. Finally, I felt his breathing relax.   
  
'Jesus.…What temper…' I thought as I slowly let go of his torso. I sat back and leaned against the table exhaling a sharp breath. He did the same turning to face me.

"What-What is this place anyways?! Where are we?" He asked as his eyes scanned the roof and the rest of the room.

My eyes rolled around the room as I looked at the dull lights and the many lab tools and gadgets. I had no idea what half of these things even were.

"I'm assuming a manifestation of your subconscious..." I trailed off lost in thought.

"Is this your doing?" He snapped still upset.  
"I'm guessing..."  
"Guessing?" He stood up, he was beginning to get agitated once again.

I wasn't sure how to act or behave. I was so used to manipulating everyone to think and feel whatever I wanted them to, but actually witnessing someone with raw emotion like this? Was this was it was like to be a _real_ person?

"Are you telling me you have no idea where we are?" the agitation in his voice told me he was about to get emotional once again. Not that I blame him. It seemed like this was the only place where he could freely express himself without thinking of blowing up the Green Guy.  
"You were being...weird. You were about to turn. I panicked! I figured it was best to go inside your head. I've done this many times, but I've never encountered a person inside his or her own head. I can only assume that your mind has crafted this place as a "comfort zone" for when the Big Guy takes over."

The remaining flasks and jars and other lab utensils came crashing down to shards as Bruce furiously knocked them out of the lab table. I once again flinched at the aggression.

"Why are you so angry?" I managed to ask somehow stupidly.  
"I'm always angry!" He roared as he continued wrecking more of the lab equipment and tools. Glass flew all over the floor he raged as he smashed and destroyed anything he could get his hands on.  
"I am always angry!" He repeated shouting.I covered my head with my arms and buried my face inside of my knees in an attempt to shield myself from the ongoing chaos.

Bruce flipped the table opposite lab table completely over. He huffed as his head tossed back wildly. I held my tongue. I was not a stranger to this type of scenario…

"My entire life has been based on control, and then I meet _you_ \- and- everything is chaos. One minute I'm happy, the next I'm upset, then I'm sleepy- then I'm feeling...!" He exclaimed and paused to glare at me. "I don't even know what I'm feeling anymore..." he shook his head. It seemed like he had somewhat calmed down.

Not being able to get a grasp on his mood was proving to be most difficult.

"Alright," I said after his dramatic spectacle. "Are you done with your childish tantrum?" I rose to my feet carefully avoiding the broken glass shards and crossed my arms over my chest.  
"W-Wait." Bruce realized what he had just done. He looked around at the destroyed lab. And in his subconscious, he realized that perhaps the Big Green guy wasn't the one with the anger problem.

_He was._

__I had to get out of here. Why was I always trapped? Without another word, I made my way to the door where I first came in from. When I walked out of the room I was expecting to walk into the white living room; instead, I was in a small-mirrored room. I glanced at the reflection before me. My eyes popped my jaw dropped._ _

__"BRUCE!" I shrieked, the blood rushing to my face._ _

_Now _I__ was the angry one. I couldn't remove my eyes from my reflection. He instantly poked his head from the door where I came in from and stepped in.  
"Yes?" He asked nervously.  
"What is the meaning of this?!" I fumed as my eyes looked at what I was wearing.

__I hadn't even realized that I was wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses. A fancy pearl necklace decorated my exposed cleavage. I wore a nice blouse which was half unbuttoned exposing most of my chest. A black pencil skirt that had a slit up to my tight and underneath a lace black garter hoisters was holding up a pair of equally kinky lace stockings._ _

__"Ay-ah-uh..." his face blushed bright red as he babbled non coherently._ _

__Speechless._ _

__He brought a hand to his face in order to hide his bashful smile. He chuckled nervously; it was more like a girlish giggle. He had no answer._ _

_"Is this what I have been degraded to in your mind? A fetish-ed school teacher?!"_  
"More like eh-a professor," he uttered as he adjusted his glasses nervously.  
Still, with a frown, I peeked inside of my shirt and looked at the equally elaborate dark brassiere.

 _"I didn't know you were such a pervert!"_  
"I'm not!" He protested stubbornly.  
"This little number proves otherwise, you didn't miss a single detail," I mused, slightly surprised at the attention detail of the sexy ensemble.  
He averted his eyes still with that mischievous smile on my face.  
"It must be my subconscious. That's out of my control," he argued.

__The slightest of smirks graced my face._ _

_"For a doctor, you're kind of naughty aren't you?" I said as I further unbuttoned the next button my finger trailing down my cleavage._  
he doctor looked down to hide his flushed cheeks. I couldn't help but chuckle at his reaction. "Whatever," I rolled my eyes and removed the stupid glasses off walking out of the room.  
As soon as I crossed that door instead of being at the lab, I was now in an open field. The grass was tall and green. The night was warm, not a single cloud in the sky. But that's all it was, just a vast field. The moonlight gave the area a tint of blue hue. The solitary door still stood behind me in the vast grassland.

__I stopped in my tracks and looked around the new space. There was nothing behind the door where we had just come from. There didn't seem to be any logic or reason in this place. I also realized that I was now wearing different clothing. I was back to the fancy Versace suit that I was wearing when Banner and I first met._ _

__Bruce came through the door as well._ _

__"For the record, I don't peg you as a two-dimension sexual object. I swear." He swore as he closed the door behind him anxiously. "Then as a three-dimensional one, I reckon?" I said with a humorous huff._ _

__He rolled his eyes at my lame comeback._ _

__"What I mean is- It-It's just a fantasy. You're an attractive woman. I have anger management. I'm not blind," he shook his head, an apologetic look on his face._ _

__"A fantasy?" I looked at him with narrowed eyes._ _

__He looked at me with an outrageous look._ _

__"Yeah, it's not like you'd ever actually go out with me," he shrugged his shoulders in an attempt to make the awkward conversation seem more casual._ _

__I remained silent._ _

__Speaking sincerely, he had nothing to offer me. At least nothing that I wanted…_ _

__How could I make this situation better?_ _

__“You and I- uh…” I began awkwardly.  
"Come on Merill, be realistic. You hate my clothes; you hate science or anything that doesn't revolve around your egocentric world. I can't give you what you want. Gems, a life of luxury-"_ _

_I cleared my throat at his bold accusation._  
"And we have nothing in common." He finished exhaling.  
"That's what you think," I pointed his chest with a firm, pointy finger.  
"You don't even know what I do for a living." I commented.  
"Sure I do. You scam people," he deadpanned. "You are an embezzler and a gem thief."  
"No," I slightly scoffed offended before retreating into the green, open field to find a way out of this place. "That's only what you've been told," I murmured. Bruce looked down a his feet disconcerted.

__I paused for a moment bringing a finger to my pursed lips. I turned to face him in the darkness once again, retracing my steps. I approached him with a sly grin on my face."I'm an investor. I've invested plenty in real estate and entertainment. You see, I'm an entrepreneur-" He interrupted."With other people's money…" He mumbled under his breath. I wasn't done._ _

__"And- I may be mistaken, but... Weren't we making out a couple of moments ago?" I said with the slightest smirk, cocking one of my eyebrows up._ _

_He unconsciously bit his round lips._  
"I don't think it counts if you're entranced," he said quietly after a moment.  
A small smile growing on his face.

__"As you know, in here, neither of us are vulnerable to my emotional control. In fact, I doubt that my eyes are even changing colors correct?" I let my head tilt to the side as a flirted with my lashes._ _

__Did I hold any affection for Dr. Banner? No.  
Did I want to prove his prejudices wrong? Yes._ _

__The world could be fun without having to manipulate people to like me. Bruce was still standing in the darkness before me. I didn't have to hold him in place. I didn't have to bewitch him so that I could have him. He was just there, giving himself to me.  
"Your eyes are naturally blue," he took my face in his hands taking one step forward. I couldn't help but smile at his comment. He looked deep into them._ _

__"You best take a good look doctor," a roguish grin grew on my face. He didn't even have a moment to react._ _

__Swerve._ _

__Always leave them wanting more..._ _

__With that, I returned to my own consciousness._ _


	6. Chapter 6

**The perspective of Dr. Robert Bruce Banner**

The following morning when I awoke. I had a terrible, pulsating headache. I reached for my head immediately and heard the rattle of a metal chain.  
Glancing down at the figure next to the bed where I lay asleep I saw Merrill St. Paul, she appeared to be unconsciously asleep.

Suddenly, I remembered last night's dream. The only reason I was certain it wasn't a dream was because I knew what this woman was capable of- _what she could do._

I remembered the oddity of finding myself in my subconscious and _the woman_ had been an unwanted visitor.

Had she tried to seduce me last night?

I could still see the look that her raw eyes held whenever she glanced at me.

"St. Paul?" I said lightly shaking her shoulder. "Merrill." I attempted to wake her up. She remained completely still, unresponsive.

"It's useless," a voice suddenly said startling me. I looked up and met Natasha's eyes. She was standing in the corner of the room lurking. She looked over at the woman asleep.  
"We found you both passed out in a hallway last night. We put two and two together and realized what had happened," she explained.

I looked around the small room where we were kept. It was private, but almost like an infirmary. "Useless?" I repeated curiously.  
"I've been reading over her file. Whenever she part takes in empathetic possession or psionic possession- Whatever she does, she gets it back twice as bad. Talk about karma."

I thought about Merrill's behavior. It was true. Every single time she controlled someone with her glowing eyes, the emotion seemed to partially take over her behavior. It was even worse when she actually took over someone's mind. I couldn't help but wonder just how long she had been inside of my head for her to still be passed out cold.

I suddenly felt the metal shackle that had been wrapped around my wrist loosen. Natasha removed the key and nodded her head to the side leading me out of the room. She didn't even spare St. Paul a second look. I could tell that she wasn't very fond of the kaleidoscope-eyed woman.

Nat didn't say much else about St. Paul.  
We had breakfast together, and then I headed back to the lab. However, before I did, she brushed her hand against mine, batting her eyelashes. If I didn't know any better, I could've sworn that she was flirting with me.

Then again, she is the Black Widow. It probably wasn't sincere. Nevertheless, I flashed her an awkward tight-lipped smile before skulking back to the lab with Stark.

Inside of the lab, it seemed like Stark and the Captain had been bickering about something.

"Oh," Steven suddenly said turning his attention to me.  
"How was your night with St. Paul?" Tony asked bitterly. I could see that he was clenching his fist tightly against the table.

I simply rolled my eyes ignoring him. I knew that he was pressing my buttons. "That bad?" He continued pressing.

"We passed out," I said dully as I slipped on some working gloves and began reading over the progress of Stark's work.  
"Wait-" Steve said holding his hand up both of his eyes wide. "In the same bed?" He said in a hushed tone.

Stark began cackling like a madman.

"Sorry to break it to you, but St. Paul lost her virgin pin a _long_ time ago Captain," Tony smirked maliciously.

His eyes focused on mine. He could be such a son of a bitch sometimes.

"That's none of your business Stark…" I growled out in an attempt to keep distracted with my scientific research.

My eyes did not meet his.

Steve was in awe. His face was crimson in embarrassment at the sexual comment.

"What? What was that Banner?" Tony approached me and put a hand to his ear in a mocking matter.  
"That's none of your business," I spat out giving him a warning look.

Tony put his hand down and crossed his arms over his chest before bringing a hand to his lips as if pondering on a thought.

"Oh, don't tell me that those pretty, pink eyes have got you all riled up? 'Cause I hate to break it to you, but it's all an illusion."

The grip on the pencil I was holding tightened. My knuckles began to turn white from the hurtful grip.

"How adorable," the Stark genius cooed in that sarcastic coated tone that seemed to accompany almost everything that slipped out of his vulgar mouth. His eyes showed no sign of resentment in them, and his mouth was turned into a scowl.  
"Banner's got a crush; Banner's got a crush!" He sang as he danced around me. I maintained the grip on the pencil tight. I felt my ears burning.

Why did Stark have to be such a child?

"Geez, I can't believe this fella…" The Captain said looking more confused than anything about Tony's behavior.  
"Stark, just quit it," Steve suddenly barked growing upset by his bullying behavior.

It was then that Stark planted both of his palms on my shoulders. He gripped my tense body and leaned in extremely close so that only I could hear. I could feel his hot breath tickling my neck and the grin growing on his face.

"Just know that every time you tap or even think about tapping _that,_ I've been there before you; for longer, and deeper-" I interrupted him.

My fist clashed against his jaw. I jumped from my seat. Stark collapsed against the floor holding on to his jaw tightly. I heaved and looked down at the growing green veins in my arms. My breathing was shallow. Breaths harsh. My hands were shaking, as I stood horrified.

"Watch out, if you're not carful the Jolly Green Giant might burst out," he said with a chuckle as he wiped some blood from the edge of his mouth.  
In an attempt to contain my rage and _iit./i_ I stormed out of the room. With shaking hands, I looked down at my watch and held a hand to my neck to feel my pulse. I focused on my breathing just like I had been taught in Brazil.

"Come on..." I said slowly pacing my heartbeat.

Suddenly the thought of Merrill came to my mind, specifically the thought of those bright blue eyes that shine whenever she smiles.

"Dammit!" I cursed as I slammed my hands against one of the walls of the hallways. I could feel him, breaking out. My eyes and veins were turning bright green.

My feelings are meaningless. I said to myself. i _Pointless._ /i

Absolutely and utterly pointless.

Either way, it wasn't like she'd ever retaliated in sincere affection. Even if it did, it would never work out.

"Hey," I felt a hand on my shoulder. I snapped, ready to strike Stark in the face, but instantly relaxed when I realized it was the Captain.  
He wore an uneasy smile on his face. "You alright?"

"Hm? Yeah," I said trailing off getting ready to go back to the lab.  
"Wait. How bout we go get some coffee?" he asked politely.  
"Sure," I said after a moment and followed him to the cafeteria.

By the time I sat at a table with Steve Rogers my nerves were finally at ease. He drank some good old American coffee I kept busy with some tea.

"Stark can be unbearable sometimes. I can't believe I actually used to look up to his father," Steve scoffed.  
"That bitter asshole," I grumbled before taking a sip of tea.  
"Why's he so bitter again?" Steve said momentarily removing his eyes from his coffee.  
"He has history with St. Paul," was all I could say. I guess the captain really was just as nosey as everyone else in this ship.  
"Romantic I presume?" He continued fishing for details.

I remained quiet. Really not wanting to have this conversation. Just the thought of it gave me a headache. My answer was enough for the captain to simply utter a quiet "Ah."

"Can I ask you something?" He said as he pretended to be interested in stirring the bottom of his coffee. "I have a feeling you're going to ask anyways," I deadpanned and lowered my mug.

"Why-" Steve brought a palm to his mouth. "Why do you like Ms. St. Paul? I mean I can see that she is somewhat attractive, but- her personality, well, ugh…" Steve trailed off. I looked at him intensely. "I mean, she's just so egocentric. Narcissistic too-"

I sighed. Once again annoyed. I can't believe I was having this conversation. Steve raised both of his eyebrows puzzled at my response. The thought of it…

"Look Steve, maybe a lot has changed in the half century that you were frozen inside that iceberg, but let me tell you something. Women have not. They are still just as complex and perplexing as they have always been. And can still get in your head and drive you to the verge of insanity- in this case _literally."_

With that, I stood up and got ready to exit the crowded cafeteria. Why did I like St. Paul… My mind began racing. Truth was, I wanted to be more like her. Despite all of her flaws, which, well made her human.  
Merrill was simply not afraid to be herself. She was loud and confident and always spoke her mind regardless of the control that she had in a situation. Which was something I would never be able to do.  
She wore her heart on her sleeve and was not afraid to show it. Other than that- she had a keen attention to detail. Her knowledge in fashion, design and recognizing patters was beyond my ability. I would never be able to do what she did. It was just like how looking at scientific data made her head spin.

Lastly, I knew she would never judge me. Last night she had-

I suddenly felt the burning sensation of my tea spill down my chest.

I hissed as I snapped back to reality.

"Yikes! I'm sorry!"

Of course, it was i _her. /i_

"It-It's fine, I wasn't paying attention," I said patting down the hot tea stain on my purple button up shirt. I attempted to suppress my annoyance.

Merrill was now wearing a simple denim jean dress that reached just above her knee. It had a zipper in the front, and it covered her shoulders. In my eyes, it looked simple, but I assumed it was probably from a ridiculously expensive designer. Her face looked as if she was ready for the runway, hair neatly held up in a tall ponytail.

I looked at her for a moment and recalled what had happened the previous night. For a moment I wondered if Merrill was just as fucked up as I was on the inside. I remembered how I had so shortsightedly judged her as a cynical scammer when she was much more than that.

"Sleep well?" she asked with a knowing smirk.

I swallowed a nervous knot that had tied in my throat.  
"Like a baby," I replied as cool as I could possibly manage with my trademark awkward smile. She simply raised both of her eyebrows at me and strolled away.

All eyes were on her as she strutted away, I didn't know if it was because of her appearance or because she was a massive threat to the entire crew of SHIELD. I turned to face Steve who instantly tore his eyes away from me and pretended that a packet of sugar was more interesting than my previous interaction.

I shook my head and headed to the lab where Tony was working by himself. As soon as I walked in, I ducked my head wanting nothing to do with the scientist. I really wasn't having it today.

"Hey listen man!" He said approaching me.

I avoided eye contact. "Hey man!" he repeated. "You gotta face the facts," he said patting my shoulder. My guess was that this was his way of apologizing. If a man like tony Stark ever apologized.  
"Why can't we be just two professionals and work together on finding that damn Tesseract?"

Stark and I got in an argument. We didn't reach a conclusion. Simply disagreed and continued working like professional.

It was only moments later that St. Paul walked in gracing us with her presence.

* * *

"Prada 2013?" Tony said as he eyed her from head to tow. I cringed at the thought of whatever was going through his vile mind. She flashed him a narrowed eyed smiled that clearly was not intended to be sincere. She simply tossed her hair over her shoulder dramatically in response.  
"Thank you; I always knew my good taste had rubbed off on you."  
"What are you doing here?" the Captain asked confused.  
"I'm here to help!" she chimed in a peppy tone. Eyes bright blue.

The three men exchanged a confused look at the woman's attitude. St. Paul was so desperate to be out of this ship, this was really different.  
"And how?" Stark asked blinking twice. His eyes set dead on hers.  
"By assisting?" She said taking a bold step forward.  
"I'll be your lab assistant. I mean isn't that like a thing?" she asked cocking her head to the side.

"Why the sudden change of heart?"  
"Well, I figured the closer I am to Dr. Banner here," she paused for a moment.  
"The less endanger the entire population of the air carrier ship is, and I get to get out of here faster. Plus it gives me something to do. I don't know if you've noticed, but there isn't much to do on this shop."  
"Books?" Stark suggested.  
"Nothing that has caught my interest thus far. So too bad for all of you, you're stuck with me. I'd go bond with the B.W., but I'm afraid she's kind of a bitch."

She strolled in her heels clicking with every step she gave. She approached one of the lab tables and placed a pair of science goggles on and slapped on a pair of latex gloves.

"Where do we start?" she turned to face the group and flashed them a remarkable smile.

Was she really up to something?


	7. Chapter 7

**Ms. Merrill St. Paul’s Perspective**  
 

“Come on guys. We are so close to finding it.”

I encouraged as I attempted to read over the many numbers, curves and colorful waves that filled all the computer screens in the lab.

  

 As hard as I tried to focus there was no use in finding any resolution in these unknown symbols and signs.

 

“Please?” I asked turning to face Banner and Stark. My eyes glowed an intense baby pink. Both scientists sat in separate lab seats across the lab with both of their eyes shut tight. I was upset at the fact that they both already knew all the tricks I had under my sleeve.

 

Their mood: _Bored_

 

“Nope, not happening,” Tony said with a small frown on his face. Both of his arms and legs crossed in a pretentious matter.

“I dare you to look Stark, I dare you,” Banner said as he simply shook his head. I sighed exhaustedly. Irked at my own failure.

 

“Come on!” I persisted. “The faster we do this, the faster that I can get out of here and return to my fabulous life,”

“Oh, yeah? And us?” challenged Stark.

“Well you can go back to your average, mediocre one,” I laughed wholeheartedly.

 

_‘And I can actually make way with that gem myself…’_

 

“What’s the rush?” Bruce asked as he finally opened his eyes to look at me with all seriousness.

“Don’t tell me that with the liberty of being able to be wherever you want, you’d still choose to be stuck in this place?”

 

He simply shrugged.

 

“Please?” I batted my eyelashes with a bright smile. I noticed that his cheeks reddened and he snapped his eyes away.

Feeling uncomfortable by the growing tension Stark interrupted.

 

“Don’t you think it’s odd? That Fury is keeping information from us?” Tony asked with a wary look.

“I do,” I confessed as I distracted myself by playing with the massive stone on my ring finger. “The difference is that I simply don’t care.”

 

Speaking of the devil… It was then that Nick Fury walked in and stood shocked at the realization that we weren’t working on Loki’s scepter.

 

“What are you doing, Mr. Stark?” Fury said angrily leering with his one visible wide eye.

“Uh...kind of been wondering the same thing about you,” Tony responded rising to his feet.

”You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract.” Fury kept his breakneck tone as he glared at the two scientists.   
 

 His mood living up to his name: _furious_

 

“We are. The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile,” Bruce explained.

 

“And you'll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss,” Tony suddenly turned a monitor so that the rest of the room could see. A collection of secret files from SHIELD was on display.

‘PHASE 2’ the text read in bold, bright letters.

“What is Phase 2?” Stark pressed.

 

Bruce and I looked a Tony shocked. I did not see this one coming. Fury was speechless. He was about to open his mouth when suddenly Captain America came storming into the lab. He stepped in and suddenly dropped an assault rifle on the table causing a loud bang. I could feel the tension in the room; everyone’s mood was on edge. I had to step out soon.

 

His mood: _Livid_

 

“Phase 2 of the SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons,” Steve explained with a frown on his face. “Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow.” He said to Stark.

Fury stammered, “Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean we're...”

“I’m sorry, Nick,” Tony didn’t even allow him to finish. He tilted the massive, transparent screen towards him, which showed his plans involving the weapons. “What were you lying?” He added sarcastically proving him wrong. 

 

Steve was emotionally destroyed. I could feel his faith faltering.

 

“I was wrong, director. The world hasn't changed a bit.”

 

Just then Natasha Romanoff and Thor walked into the lab. I was beginning to feel claustrophobic. There were too many tense emotions in such a small enclosed space. I suddenly felt as if I was back in the slums of India. I couldn't breath. I reached for my temples clenching my suddenly growing headache. Natasha’s anger wasn’t helping either.   
She glared at Bruce and I.

  

“You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor? Miss St. Paul?”

“I was in Calcutta. I was pretty well removed.” Bruce said after unamused laughter left his lips.  

“Loki’s manipulating you-“ Natasha approached us as she spoke to Banner. The glare in her eyes made it clear that she was not to be questioned again.

 

“And you've been doing what exactly?” Banner retorted.

 

Both of my nails were buried into the closed palms of my hands.   
 

The argument continued. More emotions became mixed into the equation.   
 

Shock, confusion, disagreement, so much anger...   
 

Everyone was talking over everyone. All of these prideful people’s egos kept on rubbing off against each other. I knew that shit was going to hit the fan soon.

 

I zoned out for a moment and clenched my eyes shut tightly.

 

“You speak of control, yet you court chaos,” I heard Thor say sternly.

 

“It's his M.O., isn't it? I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're... we're a time-bomb.” Bruce added.

 

 _A time bomb…_ I felt the blood draw from my palms.

 

“You need to step away,” Fury warned. As he raised his defenses. His eyes bounced towards me as if beginning to take control of the situation.

 

“No,” my voice suddenly came out in a growl. I could feel it.

“ _You_ need to step away!” I snapped groggily.

 

All eyes turned to me. In my hand, I held the glowing scepter tightly. My palms stained with crimson, eyes glowing with a matching hue of red and a black halos.

 

“Don’t look directly at her eyes!” The Black Widow warned.

“Put the scepter down…” Steve said carefully looking down at the floor avoiding eye contact. I saw Nick and Natasha reaching the their weapons, their fingers twitching.

 

I looked down and realized that I was holding onto Loki’s scepter tightly.

“Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his…” Nick Fury began carefully not removing his eyes from the Doctor's.

 

“To where? My room is rented remember?” the other spat just as angry.

 

Suddenly all the computers began beeping wildly.

  

 “Is that the Tesseract?” Thor commented as he approached one of the screens carefully. Everyone tiptoed around the room almost edging around the furniture and myself. My grip on the scepter only tightened as it glowed more vibrantly.

 

“That Tesseract and scepter belong in Asgard, no human is a match for them,” Thor explained with his head hanging low as well as he avoided eye contact as well.

 

_Well too bad for him I’m getting out of here, and I’m taking this damn scepter with me so all of this rubbish can be over._

 

“Oh, my God!” Bruce suddenly exclaimed. That could not be good…

 

My eyes instantly snapped back to a fearful pale yellow, and I briefly snapped back to reality. Fear now filling the room. My headache not as strong as before.

 

The room ignited with flames. The helicarrier shook violently as a massive explosion in the lab blew the seven of us into different directions. I could only feel the sharp glass that cut my arms and face as I was violently tossed up against the wall. For a moment I lost the scepter, but I managed to quickly compose myself and grasped it for dear life. The glowing alert lights that now illuminated the room were  not helping the ambiance.

Stark and Steve sprinted out of the room ready for action. Fury shook his head still shaken from the explosion.

 

“Hill?!” He shouted over an intercom he was wearing. It was then that he turned to me. His eye widened as he saw me with the magical artifact. He made the mistake of getting lost in my eyes.

 

They glowed a shade of sickening pale yellow, almost like a snake. With a yelp, he collapsed back in the floor paralyzed with fear. Feeling just as intimidated myself I struggled to my feet and ran out of the room unsure of where I was headed. Halfway down the hallway, I realized something… The only reason why I was here-

 

“Wait- Where’s Bruce?” I halted taking a moment to take a sharp breath.

 

SHIELD agents rushed passed me and didn’t seem to notice me standing struck in the middle of a hallway under the blaring red lights. Suddenly the roaring of a monstrous creature of size resounded the rooms of the helicarrier.

 

“Oh, no…”

 

We were all fucked if I:

  1. A) Didn’t find a way out of here it would be my death sentence.
  2. B) Didn’t control Bruce like I am supposed to do, I probably won’t get out of this ship alive.



 

I followed the animalist growling. I rushed down several flights of stairs, alleys, and corridors. I realized that no one was stopping me until I tripped on a loose wire and finally saw my reflection on a broken glass on the floor. I had changed. My eyes remained the same, but my face and clothing were the ones of a SHIELD agent. Which one? I did not remember; I blended in perfectly. Had the scepter been disguised into a large screwdriver?

 

What the fuck had just happened.

 

A loud snarling and the sound of crashing and electric wires being shredded forced me to continue pushing. I finally arrived at a garage, which turned out to be aircraft port. If I didn’t find Bruce, I would just have to get on one of these and fly out by myself. Workers were rushing around in fear; I could feel it flooding the room completely. It was overwhelming and put my nerves on edge-

 

**_BOOM! CRASH!_ **

 

The walls suddenly opened and Thor and the Hulk rolled across the floor. Chaos was unleashed as every single person ran the hell out for his or her lives. Thor looked at the magnificent beast. I felt my heart stop. This monster was almost twice as tall as Thor. With bulging muscles which resembled bowling balls that made it seemed like he could squeeze me with his thumb. A look of pure rage on its vibrant green eyes. His face features were still Bruce’s, but it was no longer Dr. Banner. I choked on my breath unable to speak or even think. My disguise wore off. The magical scepter still by my side. Thor stood up and looked at me surprised.

 

“Get out of here!” he shouted his voice straining.

 

The Hulk took a step forward and growled as he clenched both of his fists. There was no way that a Nordic god could take on whatever this was.

Bravely, Thor took a swing and actually hit him, but it did not do much. He swung his massive fist and Thor successfully held it up.

 

“We are not your enemies Banner! Banner! Try to think!” Thor pleaded. His muscles were straining as he held the gigantic arm that must have weighed more than a ton above his head.

 

“He’s beyond reason!” I breathed taking two slight steps backward.

 

The Hulk snarled, and with his other hand, he punched Thor in the face sending him flying away and to crash into some machinery. I could feel his uncontrollable anger, his rage. This creature, whatever it was, it still held human emotions.

 

Fighting wouldn’t do any good. It was only making him angrier.

 

“Hey!” I mustered up all the courage that I had standing my ground.

“Merrill of Saint Paul! No!” Thor said as he jumped to his feet.

“Remember me, big guy?” I continued.

 

The Hulk roared, and sprint towards me infuriated. Perhaps, I hadn’t thought this through. I stood my ground and opened my eyes wide they flashed the most vibrant shade of pink that I could muster. The monster didn’t even halt. He punched me hard, and my weak body went flying back against a computer screen system smashing it in half. An alarm went off. I held onto my side tightly gasping for breath. My entire body ached.

Had I broken something?

 

**_“WARNING: AIR CARRIER OPEN. WARNING: AIR CARRIER OPEN”_ **

 

I looked back and felt the chilling gust of wind toss my hair up and momentary blind me. The jet that I was planning on making away with suddenly slid down the ramp and fell out into the vast wilderness below us. I abruptly heard a low whistling sound. Thor had summoned his hammer and continued fighting the Hulk.

 

Impulsively thinking I jumped to my feet. Once again Thor had been slammed into some vehicles, he reached for his lips and realized that he was actually bleeding.

 

“Hey!” I shouted once again as I gathered a large piece of concrete in my hand. I tossed the rock over at the Hulk, and it hit him in the back of his head.

 

“Shrek! Hey! I’m talking to you!”

 

He was even angrier than before. I could sense it. I sprinted towards the open air as he charged towards me. I must have lost my mind. He leaped towards me. I ducked and rolled to the side. Before I even turned back the opening where I was standing on toppled backward making me trip. I slid down and managed to retain my balance as I kneeled before the edge. The depth of the fall nauseated and gave me vertigo. The Hulk was gripping on to the edge of the opening, and it was bending down. If I didn’t get off soon, the door was going to break, and I was going to fall out with it.

 

“Thor!” I shouted in panic as I attempted to crawl back. He was there in the split of a second. We both exchanged a look of fear as we looked back at the Hulk gripping to the edges of the helicarrier as if his life depended on it. We both knew what was next.

“Will Bruce be alright?” I asked with worried eyes.

“There’s only one way to find out-“ Thor said raising up his hammer.

 

Without any hesitation. Thor slammed his mighty god hammer on the Hulk’s hands. He roared in pain, and his palm flinched open and dropped to the side. The opening door shook violently. With the same audacity, he slammed his other hand. I saw the morose look on the creature’s face.

 

This was not Bruce.

 

The impact of the hammer on the helicarrier door made it fall off. I was in the air. A scream caught in my throat. I didn’t even realize that  Thor had held onto my torso and had used the force of his Mjölnir to pull us upwards back into the air carrier.

  

 We both stood still for a moment. My heart was hammering in my throat. I took in a deep breath and leaned my weight on my knees as I heaved. The scepter still disguised on my opposite hand Both of my knees were violently shaking. I looked back at green abyss before us.

 

 Phew, that had been close…

 

Precipitously, the air carrier suddenly shook again, more violently than the first time. Another explosion.

 

I couldn’t even muster a scream by the time I realized that I was toppling down the air. I saw a flash of red and realized that Thor had leaped after me. His hammer pulsated him to stray further than where I was free falling. I was blinded by the force of the wind and defeated by the loud sound of the fall.

 

“Use the scepter!” I heard his rough voice shrieking over in the distance. “Use the scepter!”

 

I felt the air filling my lungs. It took me a moment to hold the scepter before me.   
"How do I use this?!" my shouts were heard by deaf ears.

 

“Save me!” I shouted to the scepter.

 

Nothing happened. The ground was coming closer. My hair violently tossed around my face.

 

“Work you stupid thing work! What the hell does this even do?!” I shrieked.

 

I couldn’t think, I couldn’t feel anything I knew that I was going to die. And I couldn’t believe that Bruce had been my downfall…

From all the people.

 

The one I had actually grown to care for…

 

I could see a type of peninsula forming below, beneath the clouds. The crystal clear waters and the green of a jungle. It was approaching it was coming faster and faster.

 

“AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” The scream that had been building up inside of me erupted in a violent high pitch.

 

 I braced for my death.


	8. Chapter 8

_“You stupid woman!” the back of a palm stung St. Paul’s cheek._

 

_She gasped as her hand reached for it to hold it tightly. It almost reminded her of how her father…_

 

_“You took my scepter!”_

 

_It was that man, Thor’s brother. Both of them appeared to be standing in a vast white room of emptiness. “Your?”_

_“The Chitauri Scepter,” he growled out with malicious green eyes. There was so much pain.. so much fear and envy bottled up into the tall, lean man that stood before her._

 

_“Lucky,” she said._

_“Loki,” he corrected with a malicious sneer, clearly annoyed at the lack of respect. Insulted at the petty name. “Remember my name, because it will be the name of the god that kills you._

_My name is Loki Laufeyson, son of Laufey, ruler of the Frost Giants in Jotunheim. God of Mischief… And I will destroy you. I will kill you in whatever way it is you fear the most until you are begging for mercy. And then-then, I will get my scepter back…” he cackled as darkness consumed him._

 

_He was interrupted when a fist rapidly inching towards his face._

_Without even twitching he grasped the hand tightly in his._

 

_“Foolish human, you thought you could sneak up on the God of Mischief?” He said with a smirk._

_“Let me go!” St. Paul struggled as she pulled her arm back._

_“What’s this?” He suddenly said noticing the massive yellow canary ring that decorated her index finger.  
_  

_“No! My ring!” She struggled._

 

_With a quick pull, he tugged it off and slid it on his own hand. Shoving Merrill to fall back on the floor._

 

_“This is actually very fine craftsmanship…” He turned to face her, his eyes narrowed. “You’re no ordinary human, are you?”_

 

_The scene suddenly faded._

   

* * *

 

 

    In a separate field, Thor walked through the golden flowers in the dimming sunset and approached his fallen hammer. He lifted the hammer and swung it over his shoulder casually. Looking off into the distance he wondered just where Dr. Banner and St. Paul could be. He knew that Bruce could manage, but he feared for St. Paul. Especially if she had his brother’s scepter…

 

He knew that they had to find her. Especially before Loki did… If not it would be too late, perhaps for humanity.

 

* * *

 

   

Somewhere else in the peninsula, Bruce Banner awoke in an abandoned building. He was already in his human form. Like always the entire building was wrecked beyond repair. He lay at the bottom of a broken bed of bricks and rubble. His head ached as it usually did after morphing.

He looked up and noticed the open ceiling he had crashed through. He was also completely naked. A security guard stood nearby amazed.

 

“You fell out of the sky.”

 

Bruce couldn’t even remember how he managed to get to this place in the first place. Last thing he knew he was in the lab working on the scepter. Everyone began arguing; there was an explosion and- that was it.

 _Goddammit…_ he cringed. There was no one around, what if he had hurt them? Where was Merrill? Why hadn’t she been able to stop him? To control him?

 

“Did I hurt anybody?” he asked in a shaky voice. His palms were clean and lacked blood, that could be a good sign, right?

   

“There's nobody around here to get hurt,” the guard explained. “You did scare the hell out of some pigeons though.”

 

“Lucky,” Bruce attempted to cover his naked self in embarrassment.

   

The intrigued guard continued the conversation without shame. He later tossed Banner a pair of pants. He was so grateful for them. The guard asked him if he was an alien, which the doctor denied.

  
“Well then, son, you've got a condition.”

 

No, shit. _Tell me about it?_

   

* * *

 

 

Eventually, the Avengers assembled. All gathered in Stark tower in New York the following day. A solemn ambiance filled the room at the news of the sad death of Agent Phil Coulson.

 

“So- rephrasing…” Stark said as he nursed some of his finest scotch.

“We have to find St. Paul, because…” he eyed Thor with narrowed eyes.

“Merrill of St. Paul fell off the air carrier when she lured the Hulk off. I tried saving her, but a mortal human cannot survive a fall like that… It’s impossible. I doubt that she’s with life.”

“And if Loki gets his hands on her before we do, her odds aren’t looking good,” Hawkeye added as he swallowed with unease. Being under Loki’s control had somewhat scarred him…

 

The Captain looked down with his arms crossed over his wide chest.

 

“Perhaps her intentions weren’t the best, but in a way, her taking the scepter… It has bought us some time to fend off against Loki. Find the Tesseract,” he attempted to look at the bright side of the situation.

   

Bruce looked completely mortified.

 

“This is all my fault…” He said looking as pale as a ghost. “If I had just controlled it… If I had just… Oh, god- what if I hurt her…” He said distraught, his eyes glazed over and lost.

“We get it, Romeo, you miss her,” the Black Widow rolled her eyes bitterly. A hint of jealousy in her tone?  
The doctor was so upset he didn’t even react to her comment.

 

“We’ve got to find her,” Rogers said as he marveled at the New York skyline.

“SHIELD has eyes wherever there is a camera. I’m surprised they haven’t picked up anything,” Natasha explained.

“If she is alive, she knows how to use the scepter. She’s using it to blend in with the crowds.” Thor added.

“But the question is- where would she go?” The Captain asked the million dollar question.

 

“We all know different sides of St. Paul,” Stark’s eyes turned to look at Banner. “The good,” he looked at the redhead in the room “the bad,” and finally his eyes lay on Thor and the Captain “and the ugly.”

“We have to be out there looking for her and quickly before crazy gets to her.”

“Hey-!” Thor was interrupted. He was about to defend Loki’s honor when the Black Widow stepped in.

“Are you saying we should all split up and look for her?” She said appalled hands on her waist.

“It’s the only way,” Banner said shaking his head.

   

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Stark clapped his hands. “Our rainbow eyed frienemy could be just about anywhere in the world. Let’s go get our mood ring and the scepter back.”

 

He paused for a moment before they headed out for the day.

 

“Oh, and lover boy,” he said turning to Banner with a smirk. The doctor had a deflated look on his face, as the thought of Merrill St. Paul being dead on his account continued running through his mind. “Make sure you bring some flowers, chocolates, a bottle of champagne and a nice set of jewelry. She likes the shiny kind. You’re going to need them!”

   

xxx

   

    St. Paul jolted away in the middle of a massive crater in the ground. Her breathing was sharp as she was overcome with pain. She clenched onto one of her ribs tightly. If she didn’t break it, she probably fractured it.

Was she dead? How in the world had she survived such a drastic fall?

 

The smell of burnt suddenly met her nostrils, and she turned to see the scepter only a couple of feet away from her. It was emitting a low hissing noise, the glowing was dim, and a vapor-like smoke was emitting from it. The crater that she was laying in was at least two miles long in diameter. There didn’t seem to be any signs of civilization nearby.

 

“My ring!” she suddenly shrieked when she realized that her precious gem was gone.  
  
  _Had she just been in a dream? Had that been real?_

 

_What the hell had happened?_

   

St. Paul climbed out of the crater she had made. She looked at the glowing scepter in her hand. The last thing she remembered before falling was Thor shouting at her to use the scepter. Had she somehow managed to activate this mysterious object. The sun was setting. She had to figure out where she was first. Her dress was torn shredded and looked downright awful…

 

But wait- the scepter?

 

She took a moment to focus and pictured herself looking more presentable with a hiking outfit. Like magic the moment she opened her eyes she was wearing a pair of hiking boots, a matching hat, khaki shorts and a button up shirt. She felt that she looked like the crocodile hunter, but it was the closest thing that Merrill could picture to be an explorer.

 

She covered her face as she ventured into the forest. Well aware that SHIELD had eyes everywhere. It would’ve been best to disguise her face. So she decided to do so for the time. Her face model Audrey Hepburn, who else would you pick if you could look like anyone?

 

She walked through and through until she stumbled upon a home in the middle of the woods. Luckily it was abandoned. She was left with no choice but to break in. Once inside the first thing she did was look for a local newspaper. Anything!

 

She found one.

 

“East coast…” She said thinking out loud as she reverted back to her normal form.

 

She had to find someplace safe. Somewhere where she could hide…


	9. Chapter 9

The Avengers found themselves strolling through a massively long hallway. It seemed to stretch for miles. Fine artwork decorated the massive, arched pink walls. Every single painting was decorated with soft salmon curtains. The entire hallway had a pink tint to it, despite the lights being dim. There were no windows.   
The paintings on the wall where mainly French, but included other celebrated artists like Matisse, Chagal there was even a small Monet near the end.  
  
“She lives here?” The Captain said in awe as he kept a pair of wary eyes alert. Something about this terrifying hallway had him on edge. The Avengers advanced. As they approached the end of the hallway they could hear old French music playing. _“Non,_ je ne _regretted_ rien _”_ by Edith Piaf was playing.  
  
“What’s with all the French stuff?” Hawkeye said as a chill ran down his spine. There was just something eerie about this place.  
“We’re not in Kansas anymore…” Banner said to himself.  
“What is this Kansas you speak of?” Thor asked confused.  
“I understood that reference!” The Captain clapped his hands together beaming. Tony rolled his eyes at him dramatically.   
  
They all stood before opening the door before them. They glared at the Captain for a moment due to his sudden burst of excitement. Without any hesitation, Natasha kicked the door wide open to reveal a luxurious penthouse.   
It looked like something out of a Scott Fitzgerald novel. Everything was magnificent, spotless, and luxurious. The bed had Egyptian cotton sheets, and that awful music continued. Hawkeye stopped a record player abruptly and suddenly an old maid stepped out holding a basket of laundry in her hands.  
  
“Pardón, pardón,” she said quickly in a French accent as she continued running around the suite cleaning.   
  
“Does Saint of Paul speak this tongue?” Thor asked eyeing the cleaning lady curiously.  
“St. Paul can barely even speak English properly as it is,” Stark rolled his eyes once again.  
  
The Avengers began looking around the room for any symbolic clue as to where she could be. If the maid was cleaning the room she had to have been here recently, right?  
  
“What if she went back home?” Steve suggested.  
“This is her _home,”_ Natasha said as she snooped through some drawers. Her tone gave them the impression that the subject was not to be further pursued.  
“No, but I mean, home, _home_ …” Steve insisted.  
“She doesn’t have one,” was all the Black Widow responded.  
“Family?” Rogers pressed.  
“St. Paul was abused as a child.” Romanoff suddenly blurted.  
  
She was a little stunned by the word vomit that had just escaped her mouth. The other four looked at her in shock. “What?” Even Tony Stark was unaware of this information.  
  
“Is this a joke?” Bruce asked with wide eyes breaking the silence. Part of him wanted it to be a lie.  
  
“It’s true,” Hawkeye backed up his closest friend. “I saw it in her file.”  
“Merrill comes from Rhode Island; her father was a worker in a photography studio. She would often go to work with him and one-day things took an awry turn. The details are unknown, but something happened to her that day that she was able to manifest her powers. And as for him… He was found dead, beaten to the pulp. Other workers in the facility were covered in his blood, no one could remember what had happened. Her hands are  stained with his blood, but other than that there was not a single scratch on her body.”  
  
Natasha paused for a moment.  
  
“Finding refugee in the jewelry district of Rhode Island she became almost obsessed with gems. She invested in them and at some point had her own business, but as the jewelry industry began to collapse she decided to invest in casinos which brings us here to her home in Monte Carlo.”  
“She surrounded herself by the wealthy and powerful, funding and paving her own way with fortunes not belonging to her.”  
  
There was an awkward silence in the room. The French maid remained the room dusting off furniture, lamps, and chandeliers, they weren’t sure if she understood or even cared about what they were talking about.  
  
Stark huffed as he smacked n a crystal lamp that was near her bed in a fit of anger. The fine lamp made a crashing sound as it made contact with the wooden floor. Shattering into hundreds of pieces.  
  
“Stark!” Steve exclaimed surprised.  
“What?” he shrugged casually. “After all, I did pay for it.”  
  
 _He really did.  
_  

“Sacré bleu!” The cranky maid exclaimed before swatting Tony with her feathery dusting wand. He frowned and raised his hands in defense. The old maiden, however, did not stop. Suddenly a light bulb went off in Stark’s head. In one swift motion, he grasped her arm and pulled her close. He looked deep into the crone’s dark, beady eyes hoping to find some familiarity in them.  
The woman looked upset as she scowled at him. He looked into those dark eyes and felt nothing, then his eyes trailed down to the woman’s hand. The canary diamond ring that St. Paul often wore was a-missing. This was not her.   
  
“Effronté!” her hand met his face with a loud smack. She huffed and picked up a basket of clothes before stomping away. She angrily slammed the door behind her as she left.  
  
All eyes fell on Tony. “What? You can never be too safe,” he shrugged.  
  
They all once again focused on the previous conversation.   
  
“What about her mother?” Steve asked. “Did she say anything to you?” He asked Bruce.  
“Why would I know?” He said taken back.  
“Well, you two did spend a ridiculous amount of time together,” Natasha commented. Again, a hint of jealousy could be heard in her tone and envious glare. Bruce deadpanned.  
“There are no records of the woman, and if St. Paul ever did meet her, I highly doubt she remembers her.” Explained Hawkeye as he picked up the record that had been playing. He flipped the antique carefully in his hands.  
  
Steve Rogers looked down deep in thought. His gaze suddenly became lost as it landed on Hawkeye’s hands.   
Without a warning, he jolted towards the door only to catch sight of the maid rapidly sprinting and turning at the end of the hallway.   
  
“Get that woman!” He shouted as he chased after her.  
“What?” Three of the remaining four avengers exchanged a confused look. Thor wasted no time and barged out of the room with his hammer leaving a huge gaping hole.  
Hawkeye put down the record player he had been holding and brought a radio to his face.  
  
“All Agents of SHIELD close the perimeter. Suspect on the loose. Code 08-99.” He barked into his radio.  
  
“Of course,” the Black Widow realized when she picked up the record player Hawkeye had been previously holding.  
“I should’ve known,” she shook her head.  
“What does it mean?” Bruce asked as he looked at the French title.  
“I regret nothing.”

 

* * *

  
  
Thor stood on the rooftop of a nearby building. He looked down at the streets scanning a running figure. Or anything that might look suspicious to him.  
  
St. Paul had Loki’s scepter. She could morph into anyone or anything her mind was set too. Surprisingly no one seemed to come out of “The Pink Panther” what St. Paul’s massive casino was named.  
  
Downstairs the Captain heaved as he turned Stark was behind him. He wouldn’t be of much use. However, he did know St. Paul better than most of the Avengers.   
  
“She’s gotta be here,” Steve’s eyes scanned every single person, individual, man, and woman that flooded the main casino area. He could see the shield agents creating a barrier on the outside that would prevent anyone from going in or our of the Pink Panther.  
Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Banner reached the main room. Suddenly an explosion made everyone inside shriek and crouch to the floor. Thor flew through the air with his Mjölnir. A gaping hole now allowed pristine daylight to pour into the dark casino.  
  
“He has got to stop doing that.” Banner shook his head.

“There’s no way she could’ve escaped.” Breathed Natasha as her hawk-like eyes scanned the room.  
“There’s a barricade outside. Merrill of St. Paul is in this room.” Thor stated. His golden hair and crimson cloak fluttering behind him as he advanced towards the Avengers.  
“Problem is- how do we find her,” Bruce said in a tone that was coated with anxiety.   
  
“That won’t be a problem,” Stark chortled. Banner turned to look at him confused and in that moment Stark held him in a headlock. His other hand reached for Romanoff’s gun that he pressed against Bruce’s temple.  
  
His breathing strained. He could feel his pulse racing. His veins beginning to bulge bright green. He wasn’t nervous about the bullet that would be buried deep inside of his head. It was the idea of the _other_ guy rampaging free in this small space that concerned him.  
  
“Stark,” he chuckled nervously. “This won’t end well for anybody.”  
  
“Merrill is the one that will come to us,” Stark replied.  
  
Natasha and Flint eyed the scene nervously unsure of what to do. One uneasy move and either Banner’s brains would be on the roof or the Big Green Guy would make sure there was no roof in the Pink Panther casino.  
  
“Stark this is not a good idea,” Thor warned. He could feel an ominous presence lurking nearby. Something awful was about to happen. “There’s gotta be another way-“ the Captain bargained.  
  
“St. Paul! Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Stark called out childishly.  

Some of the people in the crowd stood shocked. Many remained on their knees due to Thor’s not so _graceful_ entrance. Many women shrieked, the men stood appalled. Just like the others, there was nothing they could do.   
  
“Goddammit, Merrill! Show yourself!” He bellowed angrily. His hand shaking as he did. Banner could feel his knees trembling. He practiced his focused breathing.   
  
Inhale. Exhale.   
  
A bead of sweat slid down his temple. It was then that the seas of people parted, and from the back approached a familiar face.


	10. Chapter 10

From the splitting ocean of people strolled in a powerful individual. All mouths went agape at sight. Some cowered and hunched over as the person approached the center of the room. All eyes following.

 

Stark looked flabbergasted as he lowered his weapon and released Bruce. Banner’s mouth was ajar in shock. The rest shared the feeling of astonishment.

 

Their mood: _very surprised._

  

 “Brother!” Thor boomed, eyes wide.

  

Loki stood before them wearing his emerald and charcoal Asgardian royal robes.   
“It is I-Loki of Asgard, son of Lau-“ He didn’t finish. He was immediately greeted by Thor’s hand reaching in a choking hold. Talk about a brotherly reunion.

He wasted no time in tossing Loki against some of the casino machines nearby. His body flew and came crashing down aggressively. The machines broke down, and one started loudly, blaring and blinking in tiny golden lights on the top screen that read “JACKPOT!”

 

“Hello brother,” Loki croaked in a strained voice from under the machines, still on the ground.

 

Suddenly, he felt an immense weight on his chest. Blinking twice he realized that Thor had placed his Mjölnir on his chest. He was immobilized. All of the Avengers approached him cautiously.

 

“Stand back!” The Captain said standing one step in front of everyone else. Thor was next to his brother.

 

“I missed you too!” He said to Thor with a broad smile.

“Do I look to be in a gaming mood?!” the other shot back angrily.

 

“Barrow to S.H.I.E.L.D. We’ve got Laufeyson in here. He’s been apprehended-“ He was interrupted by Romanoff who raised her hand to silence him. Her eyes remained on Loki suspiciously.

Something wasn’t right…

  

 “Loki, why have you come?” Thor asked as he knelt over his brother.

 

“Same reason you’re all here,” he grinned. “I came to get my cube.”

 

“Loki!” Thor accidentally weighted down on the hammer that was already pressing down on him. He grunted in pain. “Give up the Tesseract! Give up this poisonous dream and come home!”

“You need the cube to take me home,” he uttered strained.

“Merrill of St. Paul has the cube,” Thor continued.

“I know,” Loki nodded. “I almost had her,” he struggled with his breath. It looked as if he was trying to reach into his pocket.

Thor finally removed the hammer.

All eyes remained on him cautiously. One wrong move and things would go south really fast…

 

He slowly sat up. His eyes bounced between each one of then Avengers. They rested on Banner for a moment before smirking at him. The gesture ran chills down his spine.

 

From his pocket, he pulled out a yellow canary ring.

 

“That’s St. Paul’s ring,” Tony confirmed everyone’s suspicions.

“How?” Steve began questioning.

“I saw her. Running through the casino with my scepter!” He growled angrily at the mention of his scepter. “So I stopped her. I immediately saw through her disguise of an old _hushjlep_!”

“A what?” cringed Banner.

“A maid,” Thor explained casually with his massive arms crossed over his chest.

“I almost had her! But those cursed eyes- she slipped right past my fingers.” He said as he toyed with the ring in his hand.

 

“Something is not right,” began Natasha as she approached him.

“You’re right.” Said the Captain self-assuredly. “I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed. We shouldn’t believe him so quickly.” Steve Rogers explained.

“That’s not it.” Natasha wasted no time and smacked Loki across his face. He flinched and stretched his jaw at the stinging pain.

“Merrill. Show yourself.” The Black widow growled as she gazed deep into Loki’s gray eyes.

 

Loki glared menacingly. His eyes glowering. His scowl deepened before he burst into a fit of cackling laughter.

 

“I am burdened with glorious purpose! Can we halt this charade and begin looking for the scepter and my cube?”

 

Natasha wasted no time and angrily smacked the other side of his face. Her eyes cold. Face stern. “Now, that was personal,” Loki noted touching his red face.

 

“Hey!” Thor warned. Despite being furious at his brother and all of the chaos he has unleashed. At the end of the day, Thor always felt that a family is everything that a man or god could have. Loki’s mischievous smirked stretched even wider.

 

“Why should we trust you?” barked Stark.

“For all that we know you could be Merrill disguised with the scepter.” Added the Captain.

“It’s not.” They all turned to look at Banner surprised. “It takes a great amount of concentration to maintain a disguise with the scepter. If it were really St. Paul, she would’ve given away her disguise with the first hit.” He explained after a moment.

 

He focused his eyes back to Loki’s which gave him a terrifying chill. An air of familiarity remained between them. The way the god looked at him. It was just peculiar.

 

“I never said you should trust me,” Loki shrugged with a chuckle. “Keep in mind that we are both after the same objective, and I-“ he suddenly tossed the ring he was holding in the doctor’s direction. “Just happened to come a scratch of an inch closer than all of you.” He said with that mischievous smile he was infamously well-known for.

 “I’d feel better if there was an arrowhead through this clown’s eye socket.” Barrow stepped forward menacingly.

 

“Stand back.” Natasha suddenly talked into the radio carried. She made a decision and from her back pocket pulled a pair of high technology handcuffs.

 

“Loki Laufeyson will work with us to capture the fugitive Merrill St. Paul.” She explained.

 

Something about the way she said it made Bruce’s stomach churn anxiously. He wondered where she could be and how it was that she had successfully escaped the building. That Merrill really was one of a kind.

 

“Perhaps his assistance will be beneficial. However, it will not ease the severity of his decided sentence.” She said leaning in really close to his face and clasping his hands together in he handcuffs before his body. She was hoping to smell a familiar scent or see anything that would give St. Paul away. She caught none, and Loki remained triumphantly smiling. She wondered if he could smile without it making it seem as if he was mischievously planning something.

  

 “Friends?” Loki offered with a broad grin.

 

Stark fought the urge to facepalm and simply turned away. Hawkeye flashed him a death glare.

Thor seemed conflicted.

The Black Widow remained stoic, and the Captain could not believe this was happening.

 

Loki spent the day with the Avengers. They shared strategies and returned to helicarrier headquarters where Loki was once again kept in a massive crystal jail. This time he would be heavily guarded 24 hours of a day.

 

* * *

 

  

 Banner found himself in the lab looking over some old notes. He was attempting to figure out a new way to read the Gamma radiation that the Tesseract was leaving behind. He felt a pulsating headache trembling in his temples. He just needed to get his mind off of things. Off of her.

 

“Long night?” It was then that Natasha Romanoff waltz into the lab.

He rubbed his tired eyes and looked down back to his notes. “Yeah.”

 

“I brought you some coffee,” she said placing the dull white mug on the table before him. She sat next to him sipping her own. “Thanks” he replied automatically.

It was then that he got a good look at her. She was wearing a simple silk black robe with nothing underneath. He looked away suddenly feeling wide awake. She noticed this and the smallest of smiles made way to his face.

 He attempted to focus back on his research.

 

“Don’t be embarrassed,” she said in a sultry tone. He remained stiff. The grip on his pen tightened. “I am wearing this for you.” She said as she lowered the opening of her cleavage. She looked at him with lustful eyes. She had ever chosen to wear a sweet perfume for this time. Her hair sat in red curls around he heart-shaped face. She was gorgeous. One of the most beautiful women that Bruce had ever seen.

 

He remained speechless. He lowered his gaze when looking at her. Her hand reached for the nape of his neck. He felt a shiver run down his spine. Maintaining that seductive gaze, she leaned in and kissed him.

 

“Nat! Nat! No…” He rejected her. “I-I can’t.” he simply stated before returning to his work. He ran a hand through his hair nervously. “I can’t.” he shook his hand in a spoke in a more determined tone.

“Bruce nothing will happen. We’ll be gentle-“ she said caressing his face gently, once again leaning in.

 

It wasn’t that. It really wasn’t the Hulk that concerned him.

 

“I said no.” He said harshly, finally turning to face her in the eye.

 

Defeated she looked at him with antagonism. “I see how it is,” she spat out in a frustrated tone.

She stepped away from him. “I don’t understand how you can still think of her!” She said in an uncharacteristic emotional tone. She noticed this and took a moment to compose herself. This time she wrapped the robe around her body even closer in an attempt to cover her shame.

“Open your eyes, Bruce! She’s a criminal. A fraudulent con. She doesn’t care about you! All she cares about is herself.”

He looked away from her. He pretended to be far more interested in the rebuilt wall before him instead of the warning truths she was spitting. “You know it to be true!” Were her last words before leaving the room.

  

 Bruce sighed and knotted tangles in his hair.

 

Just where the hell could this woman be?

 

* * *

 

 

A lump of trash slid down the drain. It landed on St. Paul making her jolt awake. The disgusting trash juices leaked out. The stench and coolness slowly brought her to her senses.

 

“Ugh…” she groaned. She wasn’t sure how long she had been out. Her entire body felt numbed and in pain.

She presently lay in a trash dumpster behind the Pink Panther. She blinked twice looking at the trash chute that hung above her head. The good old trash chute, it never fails.

 

Presently her body was buried under at least a two feet off trash. She reeked of whatever the kitchen had been disposing of lately. She currently lay with her hands crossed over her chest. The Chitauri scepter being clutched tightly in a deathly grasp between her hands. Her fingers were tightly wrapped around the long golden handle. The fitted blue gem encircled with silver blades remained untouched. She carried a medium sized Hermes Birkin bag where the Tesseract was being safely kept.

 

“Ugh…” She groaned as she slowly sat up. She removed a banana peel from the top of her head.

 

That had been a close call. Taking over Loki’s body had been a risky move, but there was no other way around it. He had been walking around the city in an attempt to sniff her out. He was not much different than from the others. She was confident that they knew. They had to. At least Natasha Romanoff could feel it. She knew that Natasha didn’t like her, but she hadn’t realized that it was enough for her just to recognize her presence in a room.

 

She thought that Thor had her for a moment to, so she had to throw in that bit of Nordic. The only word that she knew how to say besides juvel or jewel. She didn’t know how long she had been out for. It had to have been at least a day. She was starving.

 

She climbed out of the dumpster with wobbly knees. Leaning her weak weight against the same dumpster, she had just crawled out from she wiped away whatever grime and trash she could remove from her filthy body. She looked at the scepter before activating a disguise. This time she would be just an average Joe wondering about the city. Nothing to draw attention. She had to be extra careful now.

She could feel the Tesseract weighting down on her side. She couldn’t believe that there would be such a powerful relic in the world. With the Tesseract and the Chitauri scepter by her side… Merrill realized that she had no reason to be hiding anymore.

 

A malicious grin made way to her face at the realization.

 

She was the most powerful woman on the planet.


	11. Chapter 11

“Where could she be?” Steve Rogers scanned a map of the world. Dr. Bruce Banner was translating what appeared to be high levels of Gamma radiation in the globe. 

Tony stark looked out the window of the helicarrier in a pensive matter. They were presently flying over France. He scratched out the possibility of St. Paul being in the city. It was too obvious. S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents scanned their many screens and global cameras in an attempt to identify her face or features.  
  
“It’s useless,” Thor said to them. “With the Chitauri scepter she can morph and transform into anyone. We won’t be able to find her like that,” he said with his arms crossed over his chest. “It’s like finding a needle in a haystack.” Natasha. “More like a ‘Where’s Waldo’” Hawkeye joked. They both exchanged a humorous look despite the somber ambiance.  
  
Loki simply sat cuffed in the table. A wide, vile smirk was stretched across his pale features. It really put most of the Avengers on edge. “What are you so content about?” Thor asked narrowing his eyes suspiciously at Loki who simply shrugged. The smirk remained on his face.  
  
“This is hopeless,” Natasha dropped her arms to the side. “Where could she be? Stark you know her- She’s not in Monaco, not in France, not Rhode Island-”

Suddenly an idea came to Tony. “We’ve got to lure her out!” He announced clapping his hands. “That’s ridiculous- She’s not a fish!” The Captain shot back.

“It’s ridiculous enough that it just might work-” Fury suddenly said who had been sitting pensively during most of the meeting.

“Lure her out with that?” Clint asked.

“Gems? Jewels? Overpriced suits?” The Black Widow tried.

“No,” Stark said slowly. “St. Paul always wants what she can’t have-”

“So we get some priceless artifacts from the Louvre or?” Bruce finally commented as he removed his reading glasses. “-or you.” Stark finished pointing at him.

 

“What?” He retorted confused take aback. “Come on,” he rolled his eyes. “Out of all the valuable treasures in the world- you think this woman wants me?” He huffed incredulous yet slightly flattered at the same time.

 

Stark approached him and pointing one long finger at his chest. “Did she look at you with those terrifying albino rabbit eyes?”

 

Natasha cocked her head to the side confused. “The pink ones!” Stark added rolling his eyes. “Um- yeah,” Bruce said feeling ery in the spot. His eyes darted around the room and he saw the judging ones of all of the Avengers and Fury. Loki’s ill-fitting grin still made him feel uneasy.

“Then you’re it loverboy,” Stark said slapping Banner’s arm.

“Stark, you’re insane.” Banner protested. “But- You’ve seen those same eyes.”

“Trust me. It’s different this time,” Stark said as he took a bite out of a bagel he had picked up from the table.

“Want some?” He offered to Loki with a sarcastic expression. He didn’t reply but only glared. “Well you get none,” Stark returned to his plan.

“Alright. O.K. So I become the _‘bait_ ’ to lure St. Paul out. What do you want me to do? Write her a poem and invite her to tango split a bottle of wine?” he tossed his arms up in the air.

 Stark was about to reply when a sudden static caught his and everyone else’s attention. Loki’s grin widened giving him the appearance of an impish Cheshire cat.

 “I hate to break it to you, but I don’t think you will have to,” The Captain said as he left the table and walked past Bruce. His eyebrows knitted and his mouth agape. Natasha’s eyes went wide. Clint looked intrigued. Loki clapped he emitted the most ominous chuckle

Before them, all of the screens in the helicarrier command center turned into static before revealing the woman of the hour.

She wore a smug smile and sat in an elaborate throne with three massive peacocks covered in diamonds surrounding her. She wore a Valentino black evening dress and a velvet crown at the top of her head. A black mink cape on her shoulders and no one knew what type of shoes she wore, but those heels were fit for a queen. She kept one leg crossed over the other and proudly held the blue Chitauri scepter on one hand. She held the Tesseract in her other hand.

 “You’re probably wondering who I am, what my name is, and why you, are looking at this message on your electronic of choice.” 

The sun appeared to be dawning behind her and there was a vast view of a city and a massive park. Elaborate skyscrapers decorated the landscape behind her. The image zoomed in closer so only her torso and face could show. “Well I have news, none of that matters from now on I will be your supreme leader.”

There was suddenly a flash of pink.

 

“Look away!” Natasha shouted shielding her eyes from the woman’s.

“We have to stop that transmission!” Nick Fury roared.

Panic ensued in the helicarriers quarters.

 

“Hill?” Nick suddenly called. The particular agent he was calling appeared to be in some sort of trance. “Agent Hill?” He snapped.

However, she remained unresponsive. So did most of the agents in the room.

 

In the screen the Chitauri scepter glowed a hue of bright pink, the woman’s entire eye had morphed to the same glowing color tone.

 

“It’s not enough to avoid direct eye contact,” Hawkeye pointed.

 

“Welcome to my world- in this world, there is no suffering, no pain, only joy.” She paused for a brief moment. She looked at the camera with a pair of half-lidded eyes. Her lids were decorated with a painfully beautiful makeup. “In this new world... _I_ will be your one and only thought, your only concern, your unique source of happiness and glee. You will live to please me and it will _please you_.”

 

“What is she doing?!” The Captain said through tightly shut eyes.

“Taking over the world,” Tony replied casually.

“You sure know how to pick ‘em Banner!” The Black Widow called to Bruce. Banner simply stretched out his index finger to her despite her momentary blindness.

 

Nick Fury was beginning to regret this. He had been wrong. He had gravely underestimated Merrill St. Paul. All time time she had been the true thread and because of him now she was armed and on her way to be the independent dictating ruler of the new world.

 

The transmission continued. “Now, this message is dedicated to Nick Fury, his agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Earth’s Avengers,” she spoke in a smooth voice. “What did she just call us?” the Captain said oddly at the given nickname.

“The five of you are invited to my new residence. I want you to bring the Blue Moon diamond to my feet. I want it for a new crown. ” She said signaling to her already adorned head. She paused for a moment her eyes reverting back to their neutral grayish white hue. “If you don’t bring it to me I’m afraid I will have to unleash one or two apocalyptic monsters in this world. After All, I do have the Chitauri scepter and the Tesserackt.”

“Tesseract.” Stark automatically corrected her mispronunciation despite her missing presence. He shook his head annoyed.

“Anyhow- this message is just in case you’re not under my enchanting love-spell,” she flashed the camera a broad grin.

The screen once again zoomed into her face. “By the way, it is a black tie event.” She winked at the camera her eyes briefly turning pink one last time before the screen turned into static snow.

Slowly, the Avengers each opened their eyes. They all remained muted by the shock of the events that had just transpired.

“Your girlfriend is an absolute lunatic,” Loki suddenly said to Banner breaking the pregnant silence. “I like her!” he laughed.

“Loki!” Thor snapped rushing to grab his brother by the throat. “Is this your doing?” He asked as he held him up.

Loki only chuckled in a throaty voice. Frustrated Thor grumbled and dropped him on his ass.

“I simply planted the seed, but the desire- the hunger. It was always inside her.” Loki’s lips stretched into a massive grin. 

He couldn’t believe how lucky he had gotten. The tables had changed. Everything was going according to his malignant plan.

 

“It’s a trap.” Bruce suddenly announced. “It’s gotta be, she wouldn’t give herself up so easily.” He knew that she was smarter than that. She was putting herself on a silver platter for them.

 

“Dr. Banner is right,” Hawkeye said. “She is already sitting on the Kohinoor-adorned peacock throne, wearing the British Imperial State crown while living in a penthouse in New York. What else does that woman want?” Natasha added.

 

“It’s not about the diamond.” Tony suddenly rationalized.

“What are you talking about? With St. Paul it is _always_ about the diamonds.” Steve shook his head.

“Not this time,” Stark shook his head and approached a wide board that was near the roundtable. He picked up a marker and began writing.

 

They all looked curiously at what he had written.

 

“It’s simple. This is about-“ he moved to the side.

“Pride.” Banner said reading the massive letters. His arms crossed over his chest as he looked at the word with a slight frown.

 

He was concerned. He wondered just what was going through St. Paul’s mind. He wondered what was it that had pushed her to the edge. He liked to think it had been fear that had motivated such a radical defense. It simply made it easier for him to understand.

 

“This is a move motivated by: pride.” He underlined the massive word. “It is a way for St. Paul to stroke her megalomaniac already swollen ego boner-“

 

“Look who’s talking,” Natasha spat out dully at the irony. Stark simply glared at her. “She wants to rub this in all of our faces. Or are you all really dumb enough to believe she can’t just walk into a museum and get the largest diamond in the world by herself?”

 

They all looked at Stark with narrowed eyes.

 

“Continue Stark.” Thor encourage analyzing his logic.

“So- I say we go in there, give her the stupid diamond, kick her ass and save the world”  
  


* * *

 

Merrill St. Paul sat on a golden throne at the top of the One57 building penthouse in New York, New York. The view was breathtaking she could see Central Park clear as day and the many other tall skyscrapers that composed the city.  
  
Even Stark tower. 

“I should get rid of that one, don’t you think Pierre?” She said to one of her many butlers. His name wasn’t Pierre, but he responded regardless. Her eyes glowed pink for a moment.  
“You can do whatever you want supreme leader,” he answered in a dreamy infatuated voice. She caressed his dimpled chin with her perfectly manicured hand.   
  
“You are so right darling,” she smiled at the man.  
“Marjorie, everything ready for our guest?”   
  
Her heels clicked on the marble floor as the approached the woman. She grabbed her face in both of her hands. “Cocktails? Hors D’oeuvre?” She paused for a moment. “Also did you get the macaroons from Ladurée and the banana pudding from Magnolia?”   
“Yes supreme leader,” the woman sighed in the same tone that Pierre had.  
“Good.” The other replied. “I’m just going to go powder my nose before-“  
  
“Before the Avengers get here?” a womanly voice said.   
  
From the elevator suddenly strolled over Natasha Romanoff. She looked gorgeous as she slowly walked in. Her dress trailing behind her. Her hair curled into a red manned bob, her makeup well done and lips as red as a rose. Just like Merrill she wore an evening black dress. _Actually,_ It was actually the same identical one.   
_What a petty insult.  
  
_ “Oh my,” St. Paul gasped horrified that she wore the same outfit. It took her a moment to compose herself.   
“Still looks better on me,” she spat out shrugging off the insult before tossing her combed long hair over her shoulder.  
  
Suddenly before the two of them the entire windowed wall of glass collapsed. Shattered glass bounced everywhere and flying inside came Ironman and Thor.  
She gasped and looked at them taken back.   
  
“I said black tie Stark!” She cried out stomping her heel childishly.  
  
Ironman clicked a side of his red and gold helmet and it came apart revealing his handsome looks and charming smirk. Despite it, he maintained an irked expression on his face.  
  
“Happy?” he deadpanned tugging at a bowtie he wore under his Ironman suit.   
  
She looked at Thor with expectant eyes. “These are the ceremonial robes of Asgard,” he said wearing the body armor that he appeared to wear on the daily basis. His crimson cloak flowing behind him.   
  
“Cultural differences,” she apologized for her lack of culture with a smile on her face.  
  
From behind Natasha stepped out Hawkeye, Captain America, Dr. Bruce Banner and Loki the Norse god. Her eyes lingered on Bruce for a moment. She stood awestruck. She felt her heart drop at his sight. His expression upset. He wore an elegant suit and a dark bow tie. He had even changed his shoes for a striking pair of male Louboutin. She couldn’t believe he had changed.   
Despite all of their A+ red carpet looks their mood was foul.  
  
Their mood: _tense and angry._  
  
(The only one who wasn’t upset was Loki. On the other hand, he was eager.)  
  
She eyed them warily. The Captain suddenly stepped forward as their self-proclaimed leader. He cracked his knuckles and stretched out his neck. Her cocky mood somewhat faltered at the displeased expression he wore on his fine-looking features. The tense mood in the room was not helpful. She was thankful for the many servants in the penthouse that balanced out the ambiance.

 “Best buckle on and hold on tight Ms. St. Paul, because you’re in for one helluffa ride.”


	12. Chapter 12

 “I certainly am glad to see you all again,” Merrill said with a genuine sad smile on her face. Her eyes were sad despite her polite greeting.

 

“There are Moet mimosas,” she offered waving her hand. In that instance, her servants descended all carrying elaborate trays or champagne flutes. Tony shrugged and took one for himself casually sipping it.

“We’re not here to drink champagne and eat shrimp cocktails in our monkey suits!” the Captain suddenly snapped tossing over a silver tray. The servant immediately ducked and began to clean up the mess. Her eyes lingered on him for a moment. He didn’t look half bad all dressed up in formal wear.

 

“They seem to be in some kind of trance,” Hawkeye observed the blank look on all the servant’s expressions.

“Is there any way to set them free?” the Black Widow commented.

“Take down the source of the control,” Banner breathed finally letting out the breath he didn’t realize he had been holding.

 

“Well, how rude-“ she huffed her eyes instantly flashing that infamous pink hue. “Look away.” They all said in unison shutting their eyes tightly. The scepter began glowing just like her rose eyes.

 

“You guys are really no fun. Could never relax despite the ongoing peace. Don’t you realize what is happening in the world? There is a new peace. There is no longer death, conflict or envy.”

“There is also no free will or thought!” Captain America stepped forward.

 

“Merrill of St. Paul, this tyranny of yours is inhumane. I advice you to step down and hand over the Asgardian tools before things take an ugly turn.” The Nordic god threatened as he slightly raised his hammer. She approached Thor and cocked her head to the side. “Uh- I don’t think so lighting boy, but thanks for the unrequired advice.” She said sarcastically.

 

Natasha observed St. Paul’s graceful movements oddly.

 

“Now I see why you two dated,” She  snipped at Stark. The other fought the urge to roll his eyes in such a tense situation, and simply popped a sliced strawberry into his mouth.

 

“Well, you guys really are all party, and no fun aren’t you?” She picked up a lemon macaroon from one of the nearby cocktail tables and took a bite out of it. “Boring.” She said stuffing it into her mouth.

She retreated to sit in her regal golden peacock throne. Her dark satin dress trailed behind her following after her every step. It accentuated her nicely. And carried an air of elegance. The mink cape covered her shoulders. The tipped crown on her head gleamed with the bright natural light coming from the open wall.

 

She sat on her throne and licked her lips.

 

“Very well then,” she said eagerly. Her now white eyes were boring into the Avengers. “Did you bring what I requested?”

 

Natasha stepped forward and opened a tote bag. From the inside, she pulled out the outstanding Blue Moon diamond from it. Merrill placed a hand over her chest as she marveled at the mystique jewel in awe. It was big, heavy and all 29.6 carats were a gorgeous shade of misty blue.

 

“Stop,” she held her hand up. “Do you really think that’s safe?” A wicked sneer grew on her face, and she suddenly snapped her fingers. Her many servants all filled the room. Each one of them held a massive mirror that pointed towards her- more specifically her eyes. “If I were you, I would send a Hulk.” She said resting her cheek on her propped hand and smiling at Bruce. Dr. Banner’s mood became anxious as he nervously exchanged a look with his partners. Natasha handed him the diamond with a mistrusting look.

 

“Tell me, Natasha, is it better to be loved or to be feared?” She asked rhetorically. The Black Widow simply glared venomous daggers at her.

“What is it that you want exactly.” The Captain did not falter.

Her fingers clawed the arms of the golden throne she was perched on.

 

“I want people to fear how much they love me!” She laughed.

 

All of the Avengers exchanged an uncomfortable glance at the woman cackled maliciously. Loki failed to hide his growing smirk.

“You sure know how to pick ‘em.” Hawkeye suddenly muttered to Banner. He, on the other hand, felt his ears burn and he swallowed the nervous lump that had formed in his throat. ‘He sure did…’

 

He eyed the cool stone in his hand carefully before stepping forward and walking across the room to her. She eyed him intensely with eager eyes. He finally came to a halt standing before her wide throne.

 She looked absolutely stunning. She could’ve passed off as the type of woman who started wars. Almost as a daughter of Aphrodite herself. The smallest of smiles graced her red lips as she stepped down. She balanced the scepter and Tesseract in one arm and approached him. She now stood dangerously close to him. So close that he could smell her trademark Chanel #5 French perfume.

 

“You’re wearing the Tom Ford,” she commented on his dashing suit. She couldn’t believe he was wearing the suit she had suggested. He looked as jauntily handsome as she had predicted. He carried his season complexion with style and filled out the black suit nicely. He accented it with a matching black bowtie. His hair had been combed back neatly.

Merrill wanted nothing more than to jump his indelicate bones. She hadn’t even realized that her eyes had shifted into an independent shade of baby pink. It wasn’t the bold lustful hue of fuchsia pink she had coerced to the people of the world. However, he did notice the change in color. It was the type of look she wouldn’t force upon someone. They were just emotions.

 She stretched her hand over but barely brushed his suited chest as he stepped back. Hesitantly she retreated. In that moment she realized that he would have to go. He wasn’t capable of ruling by her side freely. She flipped the hand she had stretched out her palm was facing him.

 

“I’ll have my diamond now Dr. Banner,”  she said in an icy tone. Despite her voice, the color in her eyes remained the same. His eyes momentarily met hers. He seemed filled with anguish as he got ready to hand the Blue Moon diamond over. His pulse increased, his heart racing. Hers jumping at her throat.

 She waved her hand surprised at his hesitation. It was then that he slammed the diamond against the floor. It shattered into thousands of bits. She took a step back and instead emitted a gray-blue cloud of smoke. It was a trap!

 

“I got her!” Bruce said as he felt himself dive into the blind cloud and engulf his arms around the woman’s frame. The Avengers and Loki all rushed to the eye of the smoke cloud and focused on reaching the dangerous target. It was then that through the blinding mist a powerful-yet brief flash of bright pink reached their pupils. They all shut their eyes as tight as they could. “I’ve got her!” Banner repeated. His heart was about to escape from his ribcage. “I got-“

 

The dusty smoke cleared out. The Avengers realized that they were no longer in a New York penthouse, but in a dark gray circular room with many doors. All the doors were identical. They lined up the top, bottom and all side of the room.

It was then that Banner realized that he did not have the woman. She had vanished from his arms.

 

“Where-where are we?” Steve said uneasily at the dark gray ominous room.

“What type of sorcery is this?” Thor asked as he opened and shut one of the doors underneath him.

Natasha eyed the room suspiciously.

 

The room was cold and had no scent or smell. There was not a source of light, and no music or sound could be heard. The silence was deafening, and there was a strong haunting feeling of loneliness that lulled over the room.

  

 They wondered around uneasily. Their footsteps were echoing the empty room building the tension in the room. Loki, however, remained still his impish eyes wandering around the austere room.

 

“What hellish place is this?” The Captain said as he opened and closed one of the dull doors. On the other side, there was nothing but a gray concrete wall.

“Maybe we are in purgatory,” Clint shrugged as he also closed one of the many doors.

“If Stark’s here if anything we’re in hell.” Natasha strutted before opening a door. Stark thought of a witty comeback as he began to open a random door. He was surprised to find an individual behind it.

 

“Welcome to your worst nightmare.” A familiarly smooth voice spoke.

“Merrill!” He exclaimed taken aback.

 

"Move Stark-“ She said pushing an imaginary barrier between them in an exaggerated manner. Her eyes remained a bright hue of orange and did not seem to change color.

 

 From the inside of the seemingly empty room stepped out the woman of the hour. She wore a pair of simple jeans and a white Calvin Klein t-shirt. The outfit was a surprising contrast considering how pompous and flamboyant the woman usually dressed.

“- you are so annoying.” She rolled her eyes to meet the other people in the room. “What are you all doing here? Don’t you have anything better to do?”

 

“Umm… Yes! Saving the world?” The Captain retorted by what everyone was surprised to be a sarcastic quip. He felt like throwing his shield at this woman. “Whatever, just get out of here.” She continued walking before going to another door.

“Wait- How! Merrill!” Bruce suddenly reacted. He rushed in her direction and yanked the door wide open only to reveal yet another bricked wall.

 

“You know its funny how sometimes people build emotional walls to keep others out?” The same voice spoke.

 

All of their eyes snapped to the other side of the room. There stood Merrill St. Paul. She wore the same exact outfit, yet her eyes were an odd hue of blue and violet. A color they couldn’t quite pinpoint.

 

“How did you-“ Bruce began.

 

She uncrossed her arms an approached the group.

“Where are we?” Thor threatened and raised his hammer pointing towards her once again. She approached him with a focused look and with her index finger simply waved the hammer out of the way. “Do not take this lightly you forsaken woman!” The thunder god roared. Inaudible to all Loki muttered something about his brother being so primitive and medieval.

 

“Haven’t you realized yet?” Merrill said eyeing them all with a raised eyebrow. They all eyed her expecting an answer. Instead, a head peeked out from one of the many doors. There appeared Merrill’s face. She had a bored look on her face, and her eyes mirrored the gray hue of the dull room.

 

“You’re inside of her head you idiots.”

 

Tony star blinked twice. He knew he wasn’t on any drugs. He figured he was going insane. Before him stood two Merrills.

 

“Her head?” Loki questioned.

“You shut up. You’re under arrest.” Thor smacked the back of his adoptive brothers head. He grumbled in response glaring.

 

“Whose do you think?” The violet-eyed one spoke again.

“Main Merrill of course!” Another one with bright blue eyes pipped as she skipped into the room.

 

Bruce’s eyes scanned the room. Whoa. Now there were three Merrills in the same room? He couldn’t decide if he was living a dream or a night terror.

 

Natasha eyed the identical women closely. Each one was a unique personality. Each one of them had a particular fixed eye color.

 

“These are fractions of her personality.” She stated.

The Captain and the others looked at her expectantly.

“Many sexual harassment victims tend to develop split personality disorders. My best guess that this is her best way of coping.”

Clint eyed the three of them as well.

 

“Joy,” he said to the peppy indigo eyed one. He turned to face the other that looked at them with almost unblinking eyes. “You must be..?”

“I’m whatever it is you call it when you are focused on a task.”

“Focus…” He said more to himself. And then he turned to the gray-eyed one. ”And you are-“

“Bored. Very, very bored.” She said in a painfully tired voice. “I was so bored I saw you, idiots, wondering about and decide it might be entertaining to see you struggle.”

 

"Main Merrill knows you are here." Joy said with an uneasily wide smile. "And she is not happy about it!”

“My best bet is that she will try everything in her power to keep you guys out of her head,” Focus said in a pensive tone with a hand under her chin. “Just make sure you don’t run into Rage- that could be troublesome,” Joy added with a playful giggle.

“I just hope the other personalities aren’t lured out. If I can remember properly, this has never happened before.” Focus shook her head pensively.

 

“Did someone say trouble?” A mischievous voice spoke. Next to Loki appeared trouble gleaming with colorful eyes.

 

“Is this one him?” A purple-eyed one stood near Bruce. She poked his arm as if not believing he was a real human. One that had previously been in the room returned she raised an eyebrow looking at him with unease. “It must be him.” Another commented.

“You think you are so cute with your lost puppy look and pouty lips?” The orange-eyed annoyed Merrill commented rolling her eyes dramatically. “You are so annoying.” She exhaled.

 

“You think I’m cute?” Bruce couldn’t help it. He adjusted his glasses with a slight smirk.

 

From a distance, Natasha observed Bruce and fought the urge to gag.

 

“Enough.” Her sharp voice resounded the room. All eyes turned to her. Many of the personalities that filled the room began making comments about the red-headed woman.

“Who’s in charge around here?”

 

“I am.” One of the many Merrills spoke. All eyes focused on the one that walked through the crowd. She wore a black shirt, and her eyes were a dangerous shade of bright crimson. Her expression remained stoic, and she walked taller than the others. The many other personalities appeared to shrink away from her strong presence.

 

“No, you are not!” Orange-eyed cried out in protest.

“Annoyance- I didn’t know you were being the embodiment of Stupidity today! Now shut up and let me lead-“ Anger protested.

 

No one had noticed, but Focus now stood next to Steve and Clint.

 

“Anger has always wanted to take over, but truth is- she is not the strongest personality here. Main Merrill is, and after would be-“ She lolled her head from side to side, that pensive look remained in her eyes.

 

“Hey! You nerd! It is me, so you best quit your yapping before I make you regret it!” Anger stomped towards the focused woman. She simply stared at her with narrowed eyes. Focus scoffed. “You’re too temperamental for such a task- I would say the second strongest is- probably me. You’re in luck.” She smiled politely at the Avengers and Loki.

 

Anger clenched her jaw and fists tightly. Her nostrils flared, and pupils shrunk.

 

“Let’s go blow some steam!” Joy approached Anger carelessly. In response, she socked her right in the face. Bruce’s eyes went wide in the moment of the impact. Tony’s face was one of full confusion. Thor cocked his head to the side. The Captain wasn’t sure what he was looking at. He wondered if this was what internal conflict with oneself looked like.

 

“And I thought I had problems!” Tony said to no one in particular.

 

“Quick. Let’s go.” Focus began to make way to one of the doors at the end of the hallway. “Let’s go. While the others are distracted. I have an idea of where Main Merrill might be.” The woman’s intellect said. It took her a moment to realize that none of them followed. She stopped in her tracks and turned.

 

“Process the situation. It’s not like you have much of a choice,” she shrugged.

 

The Avengers exchanged looks of uncertainty and mistrust before following. She was right. It wasn’t as if they had a choice…


	13. Chapter 13

“I’m sure you all must be wondering how long you’ve been in here-“ Focus spoke as she opened a door wide and stepped inside of a dark room. This had been the 4th door in which they walked through...

“Just a couple of eternities.” Of course Stark couldn’t hold his tongue. 

Focus shook her head and rolled her eyes while looking back at him. 

“Actually,” she began in a matter of fact tone. It has been but mere milliseconds. Your physical bodies are still free falling in the real world.”  
“How is that possible?” Natasha asked almost on behalf of everyone. “You forget this isn’t a physical reality... It’s almost like a dream. You are never sure how it first starts or how it ends. All you know is that it happened.”

Suddenly the attention of the Avengers was grasped by a pale light at the end of the room.

“Where are we now?” Thor asked as they approached the light. As they did they realized it was a massive cinema screen and that the light was actually a film projecting against it.  
“Is this- a cinema?” Steve asked perplexed.

As they approached the screen they noted that the cinema room even had velvet sofa seats for its guests. There was another embodiment of Merrill watching the film with a bored expression on her dull face.

Bruce eyed the woman sitting down carefully. All of these entities, they were fragments of Merrill. Not wholesome nor incomplete, simple two-dimensional characteristics of what composed her id.

“Almost- it’s a way we can understand how memories are viewed inside of the mind..” She nodded her head towards the sitting woman in the room. “That’s Nostalgia.”

Nostalgia yawned at what appeared to be clips of Breakfast at Tiffany’s and clicked what appeared to be a control remote. The scene turned into a plate of beignets and French pressed coffee.

They all sat and observed snippets of St. Paul’s life. A birthday cake. Death of a pet. The first day of school-

“Wait-“ said Natasha suddenly. “Is that-?”

There was a woman in the film. Actually- It was an image of her.

“You came out really well,” the woman spoke. The film they were watching was made from St. Paul’s perspective.“Just remember- you can do better than 4thplace. Try harder next time.”

The photograph was a family picture. There was a young girl that appeared to be in her first years of elementary school. Behind her standing was a woman with light brown hair, opposite a dull man with tired eyes and a scraggly beard. Suddenly the photograph shrunk away and replaced was the woman’s face.

“St. Paul’s mother. There is no record of this woman.” Natasha continued. She observed the peculiar features the woman had and attempted to memorize them. She noted the poor resemblance between the woman and her daughter. She noticed the way her dark eyes watched her child's reaction.  
“No record?” Banner asked both of his eyebrows furrowed. He also noted that there wasn’t much of a resemblance between them.

“All we know of Merrill’s family is that she was raised by a man with questionable paternity named: Michael St. Paul, he worked at a photography studio in Providence, Rhode Island. There is nothing particularly remarkable about his life."

The scene suddenly changed and Tony appeared on the screen. The screen showed Tony spraying a bottle of champagne on what appeared to be a luxurious private cruise. The ocean blue stretched beyond the horizon. Stark wore sunglasses and a broad grin on his face as he laughed. St. Paul's laughter could be heard too.  
All eyes turned to look at the Iron Man who was watching himself on the screen with a serious expression.

"What?" He scoffed in a defensive tone as he turned to face the rest of the group. "I was under a trance," he excused while crossing his arms over his chest.  
"Well, you do look pretty happy…" Focus muttered under her breath.

"We're just wasting our time here!" Steve suddenly rose to his feet.  
"And where do you reckon we should go, Einstein?" Stark retorted, his eyes gluing themselves to the screen once again.   
"She could be in any of the other doors," Thor added.

"Can you keep it down?" Nostalgia turned around and glared with an annoyed look on her face.

The group stopped and looked at her for a moment. They proceeded to ignore her.

"There have got to be at least hundreds of doors in this place. It's a maze." Banner reasoned. He ran a hand over his hair anxiously. His brain was rattling the probabilities and algorithms of these doors. Certainly, there had to be a way out.  
"So what do you reckon, we split up and look for clues? This isn't Scooby Doo," Tony bit back. Banner rolled his eyes at his fellow scientist.  
"We should-" Natasha began.

"Can you please shut up?" Nostalgia snapped. The screen didn't stop playing. She turned around and glared at the Avengers with a scowl on her face.

Once again she was ignored, and her voice was drowned out by the group's bickering in the theater. Loki simply sat on the edge. He paid no mind to the arguing and instead kept his attention on the screen before him. He scrutinized every detail he could about this woman's life.

"Who is this Doo you speak of?" Thor whispered to Hawkeye who simply shrugged off the Scooby Doo reference. Loki rolled his eyes at his older brother.  
"Oh, Scooby Doo is a television show-" Focus began elaborated for the Nordic god.

"Goodness!" Nostalgia stood on to of the navy blue cinema seat.  
"Can I watch my movies in peace? You all are the worst type of people to watch a movie with!" She exclaimed clearly aggravated.

"What are you going to do about it?" Focus asked with both of her eyes starring sharply at her other self.  
"You know what-" Nostalgia said walking towards the screen. The projector light above reflected on her eyes as the cruise vacation continued.  
"I can't stand having you all inside of here. And neither can the others. It's overwhelming." She huffed.   
Bending down she pulled on the projector screen and it jumped to the roof revealing a door behind it.

Unlike the other doors, this one was brown and looked old and used.

"She's behind there. Now get out of my theater!" Nostalgia screeched. Her face red and both of her fists round. Everyone stood silent. "Out!" She repeated in an angry shout pointing the direction.

"She really hates it when we disturb her movies," Logic muttered as she followed to the door.

"This is it," Hawkeye said.

Captain America lead the group and reached for the handle. He tested the cool brass on his hand, so far it was safe. He opened the door and before him was nothing but darkness. Taking a deep breath, he stepped in. The Avengers followed so did their prisoner Loki and the embodiment of Focus. As soon as the door was shut behind them it vanished into thin air.

The group stood in silence for a minute. Despite the darkness, they could see each other illuminated clear as day.

"Now what?" Stark echoed into the darkness before the group.  
"Is this what your girlfriend thinks of on an average day Banner?"   
"She's not my girlfriend!" The other protested, despite this, the pink tint on his cheeks was noticeable. Focus chortled, something about the situation appeared humorous to her.

Just as she did the floor beneath them began to quake. The Avengers assumed fighting position. However instead the floor tilted in a horizontal position. The group was sent sliding until they were in mid-air. With a harsh landing, it seemed as if they were all crashing into an alternate reality.

They landed in three different groups.

Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America were trapped together. Inside of a separate box were Hawkeye, Natasha, and Logic and in the last were Loki and Bruce.

"What is this?" Thor shouted his thunderous voice boomed and echoed the maze.

The others wondered the same question. It appeared that each group was trapped in its own cleverly crafted maze.

"How do we get out of here?" Focus asked concerned as she eyed the walls around her. Her glimmering eyes trailed up where another maze formed in the roof of their heads. A bead of sweat formed on Clint's temple. Natasha's jaw clenched.

"Isn't that-" Bruce commented as he looked up, or down, at the figures in the maze below them. There they were, Tony, Steve and Thor already bickering.

His mind ran wild. There seemed to be no time, reason or logic in this place. What was this place? A mental state? Another dimension? This wasn't real.  
There had to be a way out of here. He was sure of it. With the combined knowledge of his many Ph.D's, he would figure a solution out.

"We should go this way," Tony said as he headed down one way. "No. Rules dictate that in order to find a way out of a maze one must stick to the right." Steve argued.  
"Halt and hold your tongue. We must stick together." Thor attempted to convince the disputing duo.

Bruce noticed that Loki simply shrugged and sat on a corner of the squared room. The walls were dull and made of black marble, so was the floor. There was no smell and the ambiance was cold. If there was no time, then that meant the laws of physics did not apply to this space. The God of Mischief appeared to be enjoying by the bickering and the struggle everyone had to endure. He didn't want to bother with Loki, the way he looked at him gave him the creeps.

Natasha, Clint, and Focus began venturing their way through the dense maze. When suddenly they heard something rumbling next to them. Both managed to duck before a ball of fire blasted above their head. Focus vanished before their eyes.

"Watch out for the traps!" The Black Widow warned.

Tony heard something zoom past him, the Captain pulled him to the side as a dozen arrows shot out from the wall. Bruce peeked out of the hallway. There didn't seem to be any traps. Loki remained behind in the cube enjoying himself. Bruce walked the dark hallway alone.

If there were no physics in this room… He glanced at the wall next to him. Could he perhaps-  
He leaped towards the wall hoping to prove his hypothesis and walk horizontally. Instead, he slipped and hit the back of his head. He lay in the floor aching. This had been a bad idea.  
He decided to shut his eyes for a brief moment. The marble floor felt cool under his touch.

"Ouch," he painfully moaned at the former impact.

He lay in the floor for a moment taking in the coolness beneath him when suddenly he felt a rumble approaching. The floor beneath his prints trembled; by the time Bruce realized what was coming it was too late. Tripping on his jump he looked back over his shoulder and pumped his legs to run as far as they could take him. Rolling behind him was a ghastly marble spike ball, at least the size of three elephants. The Spiked ball covered the hallway and was engulfed in flames. He could feel the intense heat creeping on the nape of his neck. Sweat built on his temple, his breathing was ragged. Loki was nowhere to be seen.

"Banner!" Shouted Natasha from one of the sides of the maze. However, when she did the hallway shut blocking off an entry and exit way. Spikes appeared and the walls came zooming in.   
The same happened to the Captain's group. However, there were no spikes.

"Everybody! Stay calm!" He called out.

Moments after he said those words they became concrete. The words in heavy, glossy white covered slammed next to him making him jump. The marble floor had been dented due to the overbearing weight of his words.

"In Odin's name-" mumbled Thor.  
"Woah," added Stark.

Before long, both of their words materialized cramming the small space where they stood.

"Everyone. Quiet!"

Even the exclamation point materialized before them.

'There is no way that this can be real!' Dr. Banner thought as he ran for his life. He swerved and slid in every corner with every opportunity he had.  
He quickly dove into a hole in the wall and avoided the flaming ball.  
Stepping out he exhaled. He couldn't remember when had been the last time he had been under such a heavy amount of stress. Fortunately, there would be no turning involved.

He glanced up at the bickering trio and saw how their loaded words crowded the small room where they stood. He saw how Natasha and flint were attempting to climb up the closing room. He saw the flaming ball returning down the hallway.

'Not again!'

Bruce missed a step, slipping on the trail of sweat he left behind and tumbled to the floor hitting his head. He looked back and managed to crawl before becoming death loomed just around the corner.

He shut his eyes tightly and braced himself. It was what he had wished for countless of times. Death. Yet, for some reason, he wasn't ready to welcome it, and it didn't come to him.

Not feeling the painful blast of heat or the painful feeling of his bones being grinded. He opened his eyes and blinked twice perplexed as to how he had survived that encounter. Where was he now?   
Once again, he was in a dark room. There was barely any light in this one. The floor beneath him was made of old wood and there was nothing besides a darkness which appeared to stretch infinite before him.

Then something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. In the nearby distance stood a man he was holding something. He looked closely. It was Loki. Merrill St. Paul lay limp in his arm. Caught off-guard Bruce gave a step backward in hesitation, which was when the god of Mischief turned to face him. Was he imagining this? When he saw the crooked grin that made way to Loki's thin lips, that's when he knew.

"Loki!" he growled.

The man in the green robes simply tossed the body to the side.  
Without thinking it twice he rushed to St. Paul's side.

"Stay away from her!" Bruce lifted the groggy woman whose eyes narrowed as she glared at the Asgardian god.

"Enchantress, join me," Loki said stretching out a hand towards the woman. "Together we will unleash the fury of a hundred Ragnaroks on this vermin of a species."

"I am part of that 'vermin' you Norse idiot." she scoffed before rising to her feet with the help of Dr. Banner.

"I will grant you superhuman abilities," Loki continued his bribe. His gray eyes gleamed as his smirk grew wider.   
Bruce looked at St. Paul's angry features. The way her nose crinkled and her eyes buried under her scowling eyebrows.

Regardless, the woman considered it.

"I know what your deepest wants and desires are Midgardian… You will be a queen whose power and glory will stretch beyond the realm of this pitiful world."

Merrill saw it. She saw the perfect world at her feet. Loki by her side ruling with a strong and stern fist. Her eyes momentarily met Bruce's if he hadn't been able to do it-

She approached the god.

"Merrill, don't do it." She felt Bruce's sturdy hands reach for her arms. One held her arm in a firm grip, the other wrapped around her hand. She refused to look at him. Loki's grin widened as he stretched his arms to welcome the woman who would be his queen to his side.  
"It's all a trick." Banner licked his lips anxiously. "And even if it isn't. You're better than that. Than him!"   
"Leave me alone!" The woman pulled her arm away from him. Regardless he didn't release her hand from his grip. "You missed your chance, Bruce," she tossed back still struggling. "I won't let you!" He said in a more stern tone. He pulled the woman to him and wrapped his arms around her body holding her still. Loki observed curiously. Part of him was annoyed, but the other part enjoyed the dramatic situation.

She squirmed and struggled. "Let me go!" She stomped on his foot with the bottom of her heel. In pain, he emitted a hissing noise. However, his grip didn't loosen.

"Are you done?" He asked as he shook her body. "With you? Yes!" She spat back with a frustrated huff.  
"I meant with your childish tantrum" His dark eyes were sharp as they glared into her naturally icy blue ones. She felt vulnerable under his intense gaze and his menacing tone. Her body relaxed in his arms his grip didn't.

"Merrill, I know you're not wholly selfish. You've done wrong. See it. Acknowledge it. Please… stop before thing get worse."

She avoided his gaze and looked down at her feet.

"It's not too late to undo what you've done," Bruce added in a softer tone. She looked at him carefully. Her free hand reached for his face and she stroked it gently. He didn't even see when she leaned in and planted a firm kiss on his cheek.

"Really?" Loki droned from across the room. Uncomfortable by the public display of affection.

"Stay out of my head!" She suddenly roared as she marched towards him. She could hear his voice in her head, murmuring temptations, playing on her deepest wants and fears. She didn't know what she was going to do to him when she reached him.

"I am already in your head," Loki chuckled as he stepped forward.

He was quite literally.

"All of us are," Captain America suddenly added as he stepped into the picture. "Loki!" Thor called.

"How?" Bruce asked perplexed.  
"We figured it out," Natasha said. "The moment we gave in and stopped fighting, that's when we passed through."   
It made sense. The minute that Dr. Banner had been abolished. Well, that's when he suddenly appeared in the core chamber of St. Paul's mind.

"Merrill. Let us go." Tony said. His eyes were hard. His usual wistful tone was gone. The Avengers approached her, circling around her. She backed into Dr. Banner's side. His hand wrapped around hers once again. His gaze remained focused on the Avengers. In the absence of her touch, he turned and saw that she was stepping away from him.

"No more running," Natasha said. "No more hiding," Clint added as they both approached the woman with a threatening gaze.

St. Paul's eyes darted around the room for an escape. There was none. Her mind raced thinking of a Plan B, C, D all the way to Z. There had to be a way out. There was always a way out.

She snapped her fingers and in a blink of an eye, the impact was real. St. Paul felt the impact of the cold marble floor beneath her right cheek. At the same time, the Avengers resumed their free-falling positions and crashed back into reality.


	14. Chapter 14

At that same time, the humanity that had been under the control of her rose eyes were freed. People around the globe blinked and eyed their surroundings curiously, unsure of what had happened, perplexed by their emotional recollections of their previous hours.  
Presently, her pale yellow eyes eyed the Tesseract slowly roll out of her palm and jump to the crowded floor. She stretched her fingers as far as they could. She clawed towards the cube. On the opposite side so did Thor.   
Neither of them caught it Before them, a massive claw snatched it from their absent grasp.

A falcon screeched as it dove out through a window at unbelievable speed with the tesseract and scepter on both of its sharp claws. Shattered glass flew everywhere. Merrill held her breath in disbelief at what had just happened.

"Loki!" Thor lunged out of the window following after his transformed brother.

From a distance, Stark Tower could be observed standing tall and proud in the New York skyline. From its tip a blazed the Tesseract's energy. A blazing beam shot into the blue sky above. The bean formed a vortex which opened up the portal to the end of the world. Amassed shrieking could be heard in the distance as an army of inter-dimensional monsters called Chitauri spilled out in what appeared to be flying chariots.  
It truly was the apocalypse.

The wind violently made way inside of the room. St. Paul felt a chill run down her spine. Her mouth agape. The other Avenger's starred in awe. Merrill prepared to leap to her feet but was pinned down before she had a chance. She grunted in pain at the impact of a steel boot crushing the back of her cranium. Her face pressed against the ground.

"Merrill St. Paul, you are under arrest for theft, resisting authorities, obstruction of justice and attempt at world domination," it was Natasha. The Black Widow wasted no time in shackling both of her hands behind her back. "Do not attempt to escape. You run more than one mile away from Agent Barton or myself and these shackles will painfully immobilize you in the spot."

"Wait- what-" she struggled against Natasha's weight.   
"You're not planning on going out there and fighting those things?"

St. Paul's eyes drifted to the destruction that had been brought upon the city. Iron Man blasted through the window ready and in suit.

Without another word, Natasha stormed out of the room following the Captain and her associate. St. Paul took a moment to take in the gray room. Broken glass, wasted dreams and piles of wasted food cluttered the dull room. She couldn't help but wonder if she had taken the right decision when she rejected Loki's offer. She lay at the foot of her golden throne, legs crossed to the side. It was then the realization hit her.

"Oh my god. Are you insane?! I'm going to die!" St. Paul hollered after the red-headed woman.   
"Then keep up!" She simply called over her shoulder as she exited the room.

St. Paul huffed with no choice but to follow she scrambled up to her feet. She didn't meet Banner's eyes as she exited out of the room. He followed after her.

"Merrill," he reached for her shoulder slowing her down. It's not like she had a choice. Keeping up with SHIELD's agents was hard enough, imagine doing it in stilettos.   
"What?" She snapped. Her pupils turned into dark slits.  
"Are you alright?" He asked, his hand clutching her shoulder. His tone was soft.  
"You're asking me if I'm alright?!" she stopped dead in her tracks huffing. Eyes slowly morphed to a shade of crimson.  
"I am handcuffed, arrested and about to be the only defenseless person being out in that battlefield. How do you think I'm doing Bruce!"She shouted back sarcastically.

He pursued his lips. Without a warning, he grasped her chin and crashed his lips into hers. Her eyebrows furrowed at his actions. She stepped back pressing against the opposite wall and away from him.

"I would slap you if I could!" She hissed her bottom teeth baring.  
"I shouldn't have listened to you!" She gave a step back, her eyes shifting to maroon. "If I hadn't I wouldn't be in these, these handcuffs!" she slammed her fist against the wall behind her.  
"Merrill, you weren't thinking rationally." he shook his head in disbelief, he held her head in his hands. She turned away. Her pupils consumed by a familiar darkness. "You know what you did was wrong."  
"But was it? The people were happy, Earth had five seconds of peace, and I had everything I had ever wanted."  
The grip on her jaw became tighter, "Everything?" his tone strained. He didn't break eye contact.

She felt a small shock come from the modern shackles that completely engulfed both of her wrists. The growing distance between the SHIELD agents and St. Paul was beginning to take effect.

"Maybe not everything," she said quietly. With one last betrayed glanced proceeded to advance without him.   
"It's not like it matters anymore," she whispered to herself when she was away at a safe distance.

....................................................................................................................................

Outside- Iron Man flew up towards the gleaming portal. Over his shoulders he carried multiple rocket launchers, he aimed straight to the dimensional hole and fired. Some targets were taken down. However, it proved to be futile. Thousands of Chitauri soldiers poured out into the concrete jungle.

New Yorkers filled the streets as they observed the fire in the distance. A blast was unleashed, cars blew up, storefronts were tossed aflame. The people of New York screamed in horror in an attempt to seek out shelter.   
Explosions rattled the Big Apple as windows shattered, glass rained on its citizens and the bridge rippled into pieces.

Meanwhile, Loki stood on a balcony. He admired the destruction that consumed his soon to be kingdom. Thor soon landed on the tower. Brother to brother turned to glare at each other.  
Thor gripped his hammer tightly, Loki's eyes narrowed, his smirked widened.

 

On the surface of the city, soldiers and cops took positions covering the crowded streets. Suddenly, the Quinjet boomed into the city.

"Stark, we're heading northeast," Natasha spoke into the communicator. Hawkeye sat on the opposite seat of the Quinjet. Merrill sat in the back debating her religious beliefs or if it would be wise to pray to a god right now.  
"What did you do? Stop for drive-thru?" Stark said over the intercom.  
"Cinderella had to change her shoes," Hawkeye said with a grin, he eyed the unhappy woman sitting in the back with a frown on her face. Captain America sat next to her eyeing her dangerously.   
"These boots are too tight!" She called back. She had been stripped of her dress and put into a pair of Black Widow's boots and training pants and SHIELD sweatshirt. Both were a couple of sizes too small.

"If by Cinderella you mean Mrs. Roy G. Biv, that was fast. Now, swing up PARK, I'm goanna lay 'em out."

St. Paul's nails dug into the palms of her hands as she held her breath. She shut her eyes tightly. It wasn't long before the Quinjet had been shot down by Loki. The jet tilted and spiraled out of control until it finally dropped to the streets past the skyscrapers and catastrophically slammed into the street. Unfazed, Clint and Natasha unclipped their seatbelts and opened the ramp running out fully armed. The Captain did the same.   
The heroes of SHIELD went into the battlefield ready to conquer.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Merrill said looking and feeling sick as she stumbled out of the jet. Her head bent over, hands tied behind her back, she was ready to barf when she felt the paralyzing shock of the shackles shoot through her body. Just like that the nausea vanished.

The individual's met in the middle of a four-way street, St. Paul lowered her arms and carefully stepped into the loop that her hands were shackled into. She exhaled in relief now that both of her hands were in the front of her body. Her yellow eyes looked ahead with uncertainty. Unsure of her duty, she was about to speak up, when suddenly a hollow scream full of rage bellowed from the depths of the city. A shadow overcame the group. A Chitauri leviathan emerged from the portrait emitting a horrific screech which resounded and trembled in the core of every remaining human in the city New York.

The fighting was faster than everyone thought. Black Widow kicked ass, Clint summoned his inner Legolas and pierced many of the Chitauri. Thor lived up to his godly name. The Captain did this thing. Banner turned into the Hulk and made an example of Loki and Iron Man almost lost his life-saving humanity (or at least the city of New York). Meanwhile St. Paul, with no prior fighting skills or specific offensive abilities- she spent most of the battle dodging the blast, letting out small screams from her mouth and flashing her eyes with pale shades of yellow. These flashes were always followed with "Watch where you flash that!"

After all, there wasn't much she could do with both of her hands tied.


	15. Chapter 15

A couple of days later. Both Loki and St. Paul had been arrested by SHIELD authorities after the recent events revolving around the Tesseract and world domination. Despite Bruce's promises to her, consequences had followed Merrill St. Paul's actions.

Loki wore his emerald Asgardian robes. He was handcuffed with his hands behind his back and muzzled to hold his devil's tongue. The Central Park area was blocked off from prying eyes.   
Merrill's hands remained handcuffed before her body. She wasn't muzzled, however, her eyes had been blinded by a pair of specially developed glasses. She was blinded and the powerful gleam in her emotive eyes couldn't be seen. From the outside of the special glasses, the outline of her features could be distinguished. She wore a set of dull navy blue colored sweatpants with a matching sweatshirt she had been forced to wear. She felt naked. Vulnerable. Wearing ordinary clothing and bearing no gems or jewels.

Regardless, her red eyes were gleaming as they narrowed towards Earth's mightiest heroes who stood before her proudly. She could see the satisfied grin growing on Natasha's face as Thor bid his farewells to his friends. Her mood seemed to be absolutely ecstatic.   
The moment that Natasha came forward to say goodbye, Merrill did not hesitate. She could feel her emotional energy approaching. She raised her arms and managed to score a good one on the Black Widow's head. Both of her fists blindly collided with her face and pulled her head to the side by latching onto her red hair.   
Natasha was ready to retaliate, but instead St. Paul was consumed by an electric current and brought to her knees in a shock of the unbearable pain. She clenched both of her fists tightly. Her teeth gritted with both anger and humiliation.

Loki simply observed her with narrowed eyes and what appeared to be the slightest glint of entertainment. He appeared to be feeling amused despite their unfortunate situation.

The Black Widow simply tossed a strand of her ruby red hair behind her shoulders. She could feel her cranium aching in the spots where her hair had been ripped out.

Tony opened the Tesseract's case, ready to open the portal which would transport Thor and Loki back to Asgard, their homeland.

"Are you sure you'll take her?" Tony asked as his eyes momentarily flickered to the woman who stood beside the Asgardians. "She is only human."   
Thor sighed and shook his head. "Merrill of St. Paul is considered to be an accomplice of my brother on his mission to take over Midgard. She will be judged and punished as to the laws of Asgard. I can assure you, her punishment will be met."   
"It's best for humanity if she's gone," Natasha added coldly.

Like always, she appeared to be more annoyed with the rainbow eyed girl, rather than angry.

St. Paul once again stood. Her head bobbed from side to side as she fought the electric stun that had just shocked her body.

Tony emitted a harsh breath as he handed the Tesseract to Dr. Bruce Banner. Merrill remained stoic. He hadn't come for her. No last words. No final goodbyes. Nothing. She held her breath. She wasn't able to see the pained look on his face. However, she could sense it. She could feel the anxiety and what seemed like fear bubbling in his core. Shame that this would be happening today, on such a nice day in New York City.

She pursed her lips into a thin line. He would say his last words to her. Any moment now. She could feel them coming.

Despite her premonition... the scientist remained mute.

His silence hurt. There were no goodbyes exchanged.

Her blood ran hot through her veins. If they could see her eyes they would be able to see the crimson bloodthirst in them. Her fist tightened in her cuffs. Clasped between her hands were strands of Natasha's hair. The beam to Asgard was activated. She could feel Thor's arm tugging her away.

Why had she listened to him?

She regretted it. Ever meeting him. Trusting him.

"This isn't over." She said darkly, her tone straining her voice.

The Avengers remained silent. Yet, unease edged their nerves.   
Bruce knew better. This was an individual threat.   
Tony was more than familiar with the tone she spoke in. His eyes turned to see Banner's stressed look.

The slightest of smirks curled upon her naked lips.

The Asgardians leaped into the colorful energy beam and just like that, the rainbow eyed girl was also gone…

...For now.

 

...........................................................................................................................................

I can't believe I finally finished this story!

Phew! 

Thank you so much for sticking around. It means the world to me.  
So- any comments? Thoughts? Critisim? Questions?


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